


Beyond the veil

by edmarkey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Afterlife, Black brother reunion, Gen, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Post-Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Regulus Black Deserves Better, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edmarkey/pseuds/edmarkey
Summary: In the afterlife, James and Lily watch Harry learn he is a wizard and progress through Hogwarts, while trying to make sense of the world beyond the veil, meanwhile wondering "What happened to Sirius?" Regulus Black is stuck watching his brother suffer in Azkaban, the only one able to see the whole picture of the Marauders. Although they can't be a parent for Harry, they cheer him on from above and watch as their son defeats danger after danger, and Regulus determines to avenge his brother's imprisonment.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, James/Lily, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 62
Kudos: 55
Collections: Harry Potter, Harry Potter Favs, Marauders Era, jily fics





	1. October 31st, 1981: The ones that died for the Boy Who Lived

They say when you slip into a coma, you enter a blissful peace of forgetting, losing your sense of self. James Potter decided dying was nothing like a coma. He awoke immediately, his head pounding with the last few seconds of life echoing in his head.

  
He remembered himself shouting to Lily to take Harry, remembered the cold laugh and green flashing light. Harry. Lily. He bolted upright and tilted his head back, calling out for his wife. As long as she wasn’t here, they were safe. If only he’d had his wand, then Harry could be safe. He was desperately calling out when a window appeared before him. Through it, almost as though he was seeing the swirling memories of the Pensieve, was Lily, clutching his son to her chest. A calm female voice echoed from above him, but he blocked it out.

  
_“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry.”_ James was shaking with terror, clawing at the Veil in desperation.  
_“Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now.”_  
_“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-”_ _“This is my last warning.”_ Why- why was Voldemort asking her to move aside- how had he even known where to find them.  
_“Not Harry! Please... have mercy….Not Harry! Not Harry! Please- I’ll do anything.”_  
_"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!_ James wrenched his eyes away from the Veil when he saw the green flash and turned to see Lily standing there, sobbing hysterically. She didn’t pause, already seemed to understand, and buried her face into his chest, murmuring their son’s name over and over. James was immobilized with terror this time. Every nerve in his chest felt as if it was being set on fire. This was worse. So much worse than dying, watching his son and knowing they failed in protecting him. He vaguely heard Harry crying..and then silence. Lily’s hoarse voice rang out in the hollow room

“He’ll, he’ll, be coming.. here...right?”  
“Lily. Look.” His voice was a scant whisper, he couldn’t believe what he was saying. Because sitting in the crib, was Harry, eyes fixated on a green dot floating above him. Voldemort was gone. They watched, transfixed, as the dot floated inside Harry, and only then did they notice the lightning-shaped scar etched onto their sons forehead.  
Lily stirred next to him “He’s alive. He’s alive. How.. Harry. Harry,” and they both dissolved into sobs and did not look up again until they heard the booming sobs of Rubeus Hagrid as he stood over Lily’s body. The man picked up Harry and held him in his arms with surprising gentleness, his beard tickling Harry’s chin. Far in the distance, they heard the rev of a motorcycle, and James jerked his head up.  
When Hagrid stepped out of the house, Sirius was already waiting for them, his arms outstretched.

 _“Give Harry ter me Hagrid, I’m his godfather.”_ They both watched in disbelief and fury as Hagrid insisted Harry be brought to his aunt and uncle.  
“Vernon and Petunia? But he hates us- I-” Lily was in disbelief.  
Sirius protested, but Hagrid was adamant, and eventually, he stopped shaking and just stood, silently before offering Hagrid his motorbike.  
The look on Sirius’s face was not one James had ever seen, and the emptiness in his eyes brought back memories years ago. Sirius sobbing in the dark after finally running away from home. Sirius after Regulus died. Sirius when they cast the Fidelius charm.  
The Fidelius charm.

Wormtail. He couldn’t believe it, but if Dumbledore was correct it was the only way.  
“Lily- how many people knew the Secret Keepers switched?” She shook her head slowly at him, and that was answer enough.  
James was stunned. “Surely they’ll realize, once they find Peter, Harry will be given to Padfoot. It will be fine. Right?”  
But they watched, and Harry was left on the doorsteps of Petunias. “They left him on the doorstep? It’s October!” Lily instinctively moved forward to the Veil but was pushed back by an invisible barrier.

  
And so James and Lily sat in the white room and watched in stunned disbelief as Petunia opened the door, and set their son into the cupboard under the stairs. Where was Sirius? Why was no one looking out for him? As the days passed, James lost his patience.  
“Sirius Black! Show us Sirius Black! Goddamn you!” He ran toward the Veil and began pounding at the screen, until the image started flickering and Lily had to pull him back.

  
A cool, female voice echoed over them  
**"On behalf of the greatest Wizgamot, we offer our sincerest apologies for your tragic demise. You are now at Kings Cross Station. This Veil may be used to view significant events of the lives of any direct blood relation, and is only located here at the station. You may choose to leave the station and start the afterlife at any point, but you will lose this connection to the present world."**

  
He glanced around the empty station, and then at Lily. There was no question in either of their minds what to do. The whole afterlife might be beyond the train station, but their son was beyond that Veil. And even if Harry didn’t know it, they were going to be there for him, cheering him on every step of the way.


	2. 1981-1991: Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Check how James and Lily are coping in the afterlife as they watch Harry grow up and learn he's a wizard.

Lily looked over at James and smiled. His eyes were giddy with excitement in a way that she had rarely seen since the war began. His eyes were pressed against the Veil, and she knew he was watching their son.  
Watching Harry was a sort of double edged sword. They got to see him grow up, and explore magic in ways that would normally have been delightful. She recalled how James had desperately tried to smooth his hair (which she had originally found insufferable and now endearing.) Petunia had shaved Harry’s head once, and they had a good laugh when it immediately popped back the way it was.  
However, the worst sort of pain was watching Harry be locked into the cupboard for weeks at a time, watching him be bullied, neglected. Sometimes Lily wondered darkly if she had really ever helped Harry at all. It seemed she had failed as both a mother and a sister, if Petunia really hated her so much to take it out on Harry. She wondered if Petunia would have treated Harry differently if she knew Lily was watching her. It didn’t matter. She would never forgive anyone for hurting Harry.

On the other hand, James had taken to pacing in front of the Veil, muttering curses at everyone that abused Harry. Questioning what Dumbledore was even thinking. And Sirius. Where were Sirius and Remus? What had happened to Peter?

  
Lily sat down next to James, who was still grinning like a maniac. “He vanished the glass Lily! Look he set the snake free (see I told you he was a Gryffindor)! That’s 5th year level magic.” They had taken to the smallest displays of Harry’s magic as the greatest delights, similar to when he first said “Moma.”  
“Was he- talking to the snake James?”  
“I couldn’t tell- I don’t see how he could be, maybe he just sensed it's distress?”  
“Still. Don’t you think it’s odd it was a snake?” They were silent for a moment, and Lily knew her husband well enough to know they were both thinking about the green dot that had entered Harry that night. James uttered one of his newfound phrases  
“Goddamn you Dumbledore.” And that was that.

  
It was a much needed laugh watching the Dursley’s struggle to contain the Hogwarts letters Harry was receiving, albeit slightly infuriating.  
“WHY IS HE TRYING TO CATCH THEM?!” James screamed as letters rained down from the ceiling above Harry. “THERE ARE 20 ON THE GROUND. RIGHT THERE!”  
“James, do you believe for one second if objects were falling from the sky you would have the common sense to pick one up instead of trying to catch them?” Lily sighed. “I think we can rule out Ravenclaw for the sorting.”  
James grinned at her. “All right, maybe he’ll be a seeker then. Yep definitely. I see it now.” James spent the rest of the day fleshing out their son's imaginary Quidditch career.

  
Harry’s birthdays were often a solemn occasion for Lily and James watching from the afterlife. Lily remembered his first birthday, when Sirius had bought him a toy broom and Harry tried Butterbeer for the first time. However, as the years ticked by their sons acknowledgement of his birthday was little more than a glance at a watch and a few old socks, and now served as a reminder for all the time they were missing with him.

  
They were both anxiously awaiting Harry’s eleventh birthday. It meant their son would soon be free of the Dursley’s, and off to Hogwarts. Off to happiness.  
BOOM- A large crash burst down the door to the hut, and Lily and James grinned at each other, expecting to see Professor Mcgonnagal fixing the Dursleys with what the Marauders referred to as her “death stare”.  
“Hagrid- they sent Hagrid?” James stuttered. Lily could barely hold back her laughter.  
“That’ll show them. Would you look at Petunias face-” They were both watching the scene as if it was a movie.  
 _“Ah. shut up Dursley you great prune”_  
“Shh, watch. Lily I can not tell you how many times when we were younger I’ve wanted to use that line. What I would give to be Hagrid right now.” And of course, when Hagrid told him, the thing they had been waiting for 10 years for their son to know.

  
 _Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh, Harry- yer a wizard.”_ Lily felt a beam of pride, and when James turned to look at her, they were both teary-eyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if this is any good lol


	3. Off to Hogwarts: James

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes off to Hogwarts and James and Lily see some familiar faces- and some of their friends still remaining noticeably absent.

Seeing as there wasn’t much to do in the train station besides look at the veil and summon objects, James and Lily liked to have little competitions of sorts while watching Harry. They currently had a tally, where both parents were trying to prove their child was most like them. James got several for the fact that besides his eyes, Harry was an almost identical copy of himself. He watched as Lily strolled over and added a whole set of tallys to her own column. 

“He just went through Gringotts for the first time and his first question was the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite,” said Lily matter of factly. 

“Well, stalagmite has an “m” in it.” James mused.

“That's actually what Hagrid said. Honestly, I love you but I think we better hope I win this one.” James nodded and winced at the memory of his younger self. He knew Lily was right though, his son was just so genuinely good in a way that he firmly believed could only come from his wife. 

“If he’s even a fraction of yourself, love, he’ll be twice the man I was then.” 

They both enjoyed watching Harry stride around Diagon Alley in amazement, but James couldn’t help but feel a stab of envy towards Hagrid. It should be  _ him  _ telling Harry about Quidditch, and buying him his first pet, going with him to pick out his wand. And of course he was eternally grateful to Hagrid for letting him see this joy on his son's face, but he squeezed Lily’s hands for reassurance all the same. She leaned into his shoulders, s always knowing exactly what he was thinking. 

Harry was now standing rather nervously in Ollivanders, clearly attempting to make himself as small as possible. He was talking about Lily’s wand

“ _ Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for Transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it-” _

__ James looked down at this wand arm and remembered stepping into Ollivanders for the first time, brimming with confidence every time he waved a wand. His was the third wand he tried, but it had fit like a glove. He still felt himself reaching for his wand sometimes, like trying to use a missing limb, but he didn’t have it with him when he died (A thought he cursed himself everyday for), and spent a large amount of time learning to do things the Wizgamet summoned the muggle way. 

Contrary to James, Harry now had a small mountain of wands piled up below him. Lily grinned beside him 

“It was like that for me too. Ollivander said I almost said a record, of course I was freaking out at that point. I thought they’d made a mistake. But I found it in the end.” Lily too made a motion to grab her nonexistent wand. 

_ “Curious..Curious”  _ Mr.Ollivander was saying. James and Lily strained to peer through the veil. 

_ “I remember every wand I’ve ever sold Mr.Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather- just one other.”  _ Lily was furiously scribbling the details of the shop down onto parchment,  _ “It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother- why, its brother gave you that scar.”  _ Lily dropped her quill. They glanced at each other, both making the web of connections in their heads: the green dot, Parselmouth, the scar, the wand. 

“Well,” said James “We’ll have to add it to the list.” 

September 1st rolled around, and James and Lily watched as the Dursleys left Harry standing in the middle of the station, laughing as they drove away. Lily growled under her breath beside him 

“Tuney knows where the platform is. She’s been onto it.” They watched as Harry walked around the platform, bewildered. “Oh look James! It’s Molly and the Weasleys!” James had been good friends with Molly’s siblings, the Prewett twins, and remembered when all 6 of her sons were born. James grinned as Fred and George jostled around. 

“Those two have Marauder energy, I can smell it, maybe they’ll find the map.” Lily sighed 

“It’s been 14 years since I found out about that and I’m still baffled how you did it. I wasn’t even shocked when you all told me about the animagus thing, I probably would have believed it if you said you were the reincarnation of Albus Dumbledore.” 

“Wait look it's the Longbottoms! But where are Frank and Alice?” They both scanned the area, but all they saw was Frank’s mom and her grandson Neville. 

James watched as Harry and Ron sat in the compartment on the Hogwarts express, swapping jokes and candy. His mind flashed back to his first day on the Hogwarts express, meeting Sirius for the time. Sirius had been worried about which house he was to be put in, which now seemed to be a trivial matter. Of course Sirius was a Gryffindor, he was the bravest person James knew. 

Lily was smiling softly at Harry. 

“The Hogwarts Express was the first time I was ever surrounded by magic,” she whispered. But James’s eyes were fixed on the veil. 

“Lily. Lily! Look at the rat in Ron’s lap.” Lily narrowed her eyes. 

“That can’t be-”

“I think it’s him. I’ve seen him transform more than I can count. That’s Wormtail.”

“But why- no look- he’s missing a finger. Peter wasn’t missing a finger, was he? And why would he be living as a pet. He should be in Azkaban..”

“Maybe he’s on the run for it, not sure why Sirius hasn’t tracked him down yet. But it doesn’t make sense does it? Maybe I’m just seeing things.” But James resolved to keep an eye on “Scabbers” in the future. 

“Oh look, poor Ron’s got a broken wand. I really think Hogwarts needs to take better care of its students- it's so difficult to perform magic properly otherwise, Remus was always struggling to get by.” 

“20 Galleons says Moony’s teaching at Hogwarts. He’s practically made for it, always having his little study group.” 

A girl with puffy brown hair walked into the compartment, talking rapidly. 

“ _ I mean, it’s the best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard- I’ve learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough- I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?  _ James snorted at the blank expression on Harry’s face. 

“Hermione makes your work ethic look like Sirius’s Lil’s.”

“I like her though. Maybe she’ll be good for them”

_ “Whatever house she’s in, I hope I’m not in it.”  _ James waved him off. 

“Nah, she’ll grow on them, I’m sure of it.” James was aware he was getting visibly more excited as they approached Hogwarts. When, to his pride, their son turned Malfoy away without a second thought: 

_ “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks.”  _ James mimed slam dunking the Quaffle into a goal. They had spent the last 10 years as disconnected from the wizarding world as Harry was, and now he was going to enter it full blast. 

“Did Wormtail just bite Goyle?” James asked in astonishment 

“For the last time- we’re still not sure that  _ is  _ Wormtail, but I do admit that Scabbers has enough sense to be human.”

“Not that it’s much of an upgrade to go from rat to Peter.” James mumbled. But Peter had tricked them all. He should have seen through it all, he was Peter’s friend, not Lily, and he allowed a secret keeper that betrayed them. 

Once the sorting happened, they both placed bets on the house each student was to be sorted into. However, it soon became apparent Lily was much better at it then he was, and after she correctly predicted Abbott, Hannah; Bones, Susan; and Boot, Terry, James attempted to match the students up with Harry. 

“James- he’s  _ eleven,”  _ Lily sighed, “Plus, it’s his first day at Hogwarts, he might not have met anyone yet.” 

“Never too early to think about the future Lily, my hopeless romanticisms paid off eventually,” he said and beamed at his wife. 

“Somehow I don’t think Harry will be quite as outgoing as you were

“Nope. Still see a future Marauder.”

“James we’ve had this discussion, why do you want your son to be a troublemaker?” 

They looked back up, the little prat from the train, Malfoy, was swaggering to the Slytherin table. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Harry was called up. 

“It’s happening. It’s really happening. He’s about to enter Gryffindor.” James was bouncing on the ends of his toes. 

“ _ Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There is talent, oh my goodness, yes- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting… So where shall I put you?” _

__ _ “Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that. Well if you’re sure- better be-  _ GRYFFINDOR: James shouted the last word. 

“THAT’S MY BOY.” James mimed drawing a sword across his chest, but he was secretly pained at the fact that Harry had grown up thinking so little of himself he could have ever thought he would be a Slytherin. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if his son hadn’t asked to be in Gryffindor. Lily, in the meantime was jotting down something else on their list, and James didn’t have to read it to know what she was thinking; it came with living alone with someone for 10 years. 

James leaned forward as Harry turned towards the teachers. There was Professor Quirrell again, and Snape? James growled

“What the hell is Snivellus doing at the same school as our son?” 

“Severus is there?”

Percy was still talking about him “ _ knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.”  _

“I swore the git would have ended up as a death eater. I don’t like the idea of him teaching Harry. Look at him, he’s already out to get him.” James was well aware he had been cruel to Severus, a thought which he would have regretted had Snape not been the slimy git he was (and James had resolved to get back at him for calling his wife a Mudblood.) And if there was one thing James knew about Snivellus, is that the man could hold a grudge longer than he could go without showering, which was saying a lot. He was also consciously aware that Harry looked a lot like himself, and was an eleven year old student compared to a much older teacher. Any other wizard might have had the decency to let old grudges slip past and not take them out in a child- but James wasn’t sure about Snape. He was sure that he would find a way to reign hell fire upon him if he laid a hand on Harry. 

“And where the hell is Moony. I swore he would be here.” If Remus wasn’t at the castle, where on Earth was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regulus POV next :)  
> There are so many wholesome moments I'm so excited to write- I just wish Jily could all be one big family together.   
> If anyone is reading this thank you so much, hope you're enjoying and comment any suggestions!!


	4. 1979: Regulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1979

_ The man called out in his sleep. Regulus had taken to calling him the man, the haunted skeleton inside the cell in Azkaban could certainly not be his brother. He heard the man call out for him- his brother. Regulus thrust his hand into the veil, desperately reaching for his brother, only to be struck back again and again. He would switch their places if he could. But maybe this was his punishment for waiting too long, for not sticking up sooner. To be tortured with his brother.  _

Regulus watched the giant black dog that was his brother pace his cell. He matched his own paces to the dogs, anything to distract him while he sat in front of the veil. When he first saw Sirius transform, he thought he was hallucinating. But that was in 1979, and it was best not to think of those years anyway. 

Regulus wanted to block out what happened before the train station, but he remembered the day in clear detail. Remembered the slimy hands pulling him down under the burning water. Remembered Kreacher’s face peering down at him. Remembered throwing the elf the locket with his last breath. Then white. 

When he awoke, he immediately recognized the room as Kings Cross. A voice had presented him with an option- stay here and peer through the veil at his family, or journey into the afterlife and be with the others. It was a simple choice, really. Regulus didn’t know what would happen if he left the station- whether finally stepping out at the end of his life would cancel out the atrocities he had enabled earlier. He wasn’t sure which one he wanted it to be. He wasn’t like Sirius, able to make decisions now and face the consequences later, he needed time. 

Oftentimes Regulus would stand by the veil, wanting to utter the words that would give him any sign of life; his cousins, his parents, even the blood traitor Andromeda, and although it pained him to admit- he most wanted to see his older brother. 

His family would know he was dead by now. The Dark Lord would likely have covered it up, called him cowardly, he was clever like that. Evil, but clever. Seeing his family meant seeing if they were grieving. He didn’t know if he could bear it if they were. He didn’t know if he could bear it if they weren’t. Better to not know.

He had been so ready to die, had determined he would march into the afterlife courageously, but he now felt more lost than ever before. And so he paced in front of the veil, retracing his steps and hoping to find the answer. 

Regulus didn’t know when he had realized his brother was “defective.” His brother had always shone so bright, taken up so much space, that he wasn’t sure how anyone thought he could have turned out in a different way. Walpurga had tried to beat it out of him; mold him back into line. He wasn’t even sure if Sirius had always been rebellious, or just had too much personality to avoid standing out. 

Regulus had been nine when he first approached Sirius about it. He had walked in on him in the bathroom and had nearly screamed when he saw the bloody meat of Sirius’s back. Sirius had put his hand over Regulus’s mouth and sat with him until Regulus calmed down, all the while blood was dripping from his own back. He grabbed a washcloth to help his brother, but Sirius had waved him off. 

“You don’t want Mom to see you with blood on your hands, Reg.” Sirius moved to put his shirt back on, and Regulus jerked forward. 

“Why don’t you listen to her? Why give her more reasons to do this?” Regulus blurted.

Sirius had cocked his head to the side and looked at him curiously. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. 

“Because then I’d let her win,” was all his brother ended up saying. Regulus had watched his brother walk out, confused. It was always an undeniable fact; Mother and Father were right. They had been right about everything in Regulus’s life, so why wouldn’t they be right about this? Sirius talked about winning, but Regulus didn’t see what the game was. He wouldn’t play in it himself until much later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading, means the world! This is a relatively short one, but hopefully it starts to do Reg some justice. There are lots of different versions of Regulus out there but this is my interpretation. This chapter is slightly dark, but it feels necessary to explore Regulus's past at this point. Pls feel free to comment any suggestions, this is my first fic still getting into the fanfic world.


	5. Some things never change: Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and James have to watch Severus bully their son, James is ecstatic as Harry becomes a seeker, and Lily starts doing research to discover what the mysterious package is. Chapters: The Potions Master and The Midnight Duel

Lily heard the whispers everywhere Harry went. After James had finished doing an acapella of the Hogwarts song (whilst doing four separate harmonies at once) they had both watched eagerly as Harry started his first day of school. 

Harry seemed to attract even more attention than James, whereas her husband actively sought out attention, Harry was doing everything he could to avoid it. 

“I walked with Moony long enough to know Mr. Mystery always attracts the most attention,” James muttered. Lily nodded in agreement, and although she loved James, she could admit it was a relief Harry was not flaunting around his fame like his father. 

Lily squirmed when she heard their schedule for today though:  _ “Double Potions with the Slytherins.”  _ She hadn’t spoken to Severus since they had graduated, she hadn’t liked to think about what Dark Arts he might have dabbled in, but if he was now a Professor, maybe he had changed a bit. She could make her own judgment, see Severus as he really was when he wasn’t equivocating in front of her. 

_ “I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- if you aren’t as big of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”  _

Lily raised her eyebrows and James scoffed “Snivellus, always one for the melodramatic.”

_ “Potter!” Said Snape suddenly. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”  _

__ _ “Tut, tut- fame clearly isn’t everything.”  _

__ _ “Let’s try again Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar.”  _ Lily sucked in a breath and stared at the veil, her emerald eyes narrow slits. Next to Harry, the bushy-haired girl, Hermione, was physically jumping up and down in her seat. It wouldn’t win her any points with Severus though, he clearly had his mindset from the beginning. Snape continued in this line of questioning until Harry finally bit back. 

_ “I don’t know. I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her.”  _ James whistled and muttered under his breath 

“Snape and I are going to have some. words.. when he gets to the afterlife. Preferably sooner, rather than later.” Lily moved from beyond annoyed to appalled when Snape started berating the students. 

_ “Idiot boy! I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?”  _

__ Snape rounded on Harry, and Lily braced for impact.  _ “You-Potter- why didn’t you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he’d make you look if he got it wrong, did you? That’s another point you’ve lost for Gryffindor.”  _

__ “That motherfucker,” James muttered under his breath, “they need to stand up to that slimy greaseball.”

Lily turned away as James continued muttering, no doubt planning what  _ he  _ would do to Snape if he was still at school, except James hadn’t ever had to undergo bullying like this. There were now two people, Severus and Petunia, who she had cut ties with on relatively negative terms, who she now realized must have really actively loathed her. It was enough to make a person wonder if everyone saw her this way. However, if there was one thing Lily was absolutely certain of it was that she would put Harry’s safety and happiness above her own a million times over if she could. 

Snape so clearly hated Harry over a childhood grudge, albeit a large one. Twenty years ago she wouldn’t have thought it possible, but from then on, Lily loathed Severus Snape. 

“Why the hell would  _ Snivellus _ be teaching? He couldn’t even stand the students in our year.”

“I reckon Dumbledore was the only one that would hire the git. I bet he feels inadequate after so many years at Hogwarts and wants to dominate the other students. Snape could never take on a challenge where he couldn’t fight back, now he’s a literal teacher and bullying eleven-year-olds. Still.. Makes you wonder, you know?” 

The next morning Lily leaned in to the Daily Prophet and tried to catch as much as possible. They both could summon basic objects, but nothing from the modern world, leaving them both as agonizingly ignorant as Harry. 

_ Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark witches..  _

__ _ “The Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might’ve happened while we were there!”  _

“Know what that is?” James asked. Lily had already summoned a collection of books from her time “Magical Artifacts and Objects of the 20th Century,” and was looking through them. She sighed and set the book down. 

“No idea. But I have a feeling Harry is going to get sucked into all this mess. We might be witness to a few more terrifying excursions by the years end.” 

“First one’s coming up soon.” James was grinning from ear to ear “They have flying lessons tomorrow.” James was so hyper the rest of the day it was impossible for Lily to focus on anything. She figured she ought to attempt to play down James’s expectations, but she remembered as clear as day Harry on Padfoot’s toy broomstick. Harry had known what the broom was for on an instinct. The three of them had been sitting in the living room when they heard a large crash in the room next door and found Harry sitting in the shards of Petunia’s vase, riding the still wrapped broomstick. 

Harry’s broom flew to him immediately, but the session was halted when Neville Longbottom levitated and broke his wrist. 

“Frank wasn’t much for heights either,” James muttered. 

_ “Look!”  _ It was the Malfoy ball, picking something off the grass. “ _ It’s that stupid thing Longbottom’s gran sent him.”  _

__ _ “Give it here, Malfoy.” Said Harry quietly.  _

__ _ “I think I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find- how about- up a tree?”  _

_ “Give it here!” Harry yelled.  _ Harry had grabbed his broom, and Hermione had strode over to tell him off, which Lily thought was quite sensible, although James waved her off with a laugh. 

“She’ll save his life someday though,” Lily said 

“Oh for sure.” James agreed. “Absolutely needs that dose of sensibility, but this is Quidditch. It’s the Potter’s true purpose.” 

They watched apprehensively as Harry approached Malfoy on the broom, naturally gliding through the air. 

_ “No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy.”  _

“Damn right there‘s not. Just  _ my  _ son, coming to kick your ass.” James commentated as if he was watching the World Cup and not a feud between two eleven-year-olds. If it was possible, James brightened even more at the sight of Professor McGonagall's furious face. 

“Look how excited Minnie is.” Lily raised her eyebrows. “No- I have seen McGonagall angry. After the *werewolf incident,*” James coughed, “she’s practically beaming right now.” 

“ _ Never- in all my time at Hogwarts”  _

“That's a  _ blatant  _ lie,” James interjected. Lily winced at the absolutely mortified look on Harry’s face as she followed McGonagall out, until she broke the news. 

_ “Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood- I’ve found you a Seeker.” _ Lily felt James freeze beside her, and then he jumped up and ran around the room. 

“SEEKER! YOUNGEST SEEKER IN A CENTURY. HARRY JAMES POTTER I AM SO FUCKING PROUD!” James stopped running and started banging his hands on the floor, as if he was trying to get all of Earth to hear him. Lily grinned to herself. She hadn’t seen James this openly vivacious and excited in a decade. She remembered falling in love with this James. Realizing his tirades were full of genuine enthusiasm and not (entirely) arrogance. 

James had now strode over to the score chart where they compared who Harry was most similar to, and added an entire row of tallys. He was now singing a mashup of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” to the tune of something about the Gryffindor Quidditch Team winning the Cup. 

Lily turned back to the veil 

_ “I’ll take you on anytime on my own, said Malfoy. “Tonight, if you want. Wizard duel.” _

__ _ “I’m his second, who’s yours?” Ron asked.  _ Lily cringed and slapped her hands to her face. James strode over and knelt beside her, still singing a rendition of “He’s a, He’s a SEEKER!!” in time with the beat. Lily was at a complete loss for words and just gestured to the veil. Ron was explaining the rules to a “wizard’s duel,” clearly making them up as he went.

James banged his head against the floor. They were both silent for a minute. 

“Do you mean to tell me that Harry, who has been at Hogwarts for a week, just decided he needed to prove himself against a person he had just  _ absolutely obliterated  _ in a midnight Wizards Duel?” 

Lily looked at James, stood up, and put another mark under James’s column. 

“Well we know where  _ that  _ came from,” was all she said. 

All in all, they were both immeasurably glad that Hermione Granger had decided to follow the boys that night. It was such an obvious set up that James was cringing more and more with each minute that passed. They thought they might actually get caught when they came across the third-floor corridor, but Hermione opened the door with a simple  _ Alohomora.  _

“They gave the door you were “not supposed to enter under any circumstances” a lock an eleven-year-old could undo?”

“The teacher's lounge has higher security than that, we had to use Sirius’s old knife to get to the firewhisky.”

“I know they said not to go in there but come on. You four were at the school for seven years, you feel like they’d learn a bit then”

“And to tell that to  _ my  _ son, I mean they’re really just asking for it at this point.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's read and left comments!! This chapter is a bit slower paced but couldn't resist James seeing Harry fly and being a proud papa :). Getting back to Reg in a bit, as Harry's actions later on will directly tie together.


	6. Through the mirror: James

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapters: Halloween, Quidditch, The Mirror of Erised. This one made me tear up at the end :)

James could hardly believe Harry had already been at Hogwarts for almost two months; time moved a lot faster than when they were watching in horror at the Dursleys. And after watching Harry, James had no idea why he ever thought their son might have a normal school year; do a few pranks, sneak out of the dorm, but certainly not battling a troll. 

Professor Quirrell, who both Lily and James already had a rather low opinion of, had burst into the Great Hall screaming 

_“Troll- in the dungeon- thought you ought to know.”_ Nevermind the fact that he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; how much closer to your job description could you get than battling a troll? 

“Someone must have let the troll in,” Lily muttered. James nodded, he remembered a time The Marauders had snuck a mermaid into the Slytherin baths. Padfoot had figured they were asking for it, putting the common room in the lake. And although some of their pranks had bordered on malicious, he didn't see any students at Hogwarts who would cross the line to let a troll in. 

Harry and Ron were climbing the steps, when Harry suddenly grabbed Ron’s arm 

_“I’ve just thought- Hermione.”_

_“What about her?”_

_“She doesn’t know about the troll.”_

Lily grabbed his hand and started muttering under her breath “Please tell a teacher. Please don’t go try to fight a mountain troll,” she paused “they’re going after the troll aren’t they? They’re going after a full grown mountain troll.” 

“You know- I’m starting to think putting all the kids with impulse control issues into one house wasn’t the best idea,” James said through a grin. Lily coughed loudly into her hand. 

Naturally, of all the places in the castle, where Ron, Hermione and Harry headed was exactly where the troll decided to wander. Lily covered her mouth when Harry ended up locking the troll _in the girls bathroom._

“They’ve got all the right reasons-just not quite there yet.”

James couldn’t help but bounce on his toes as the boys sprinted back into the bathroom, promptly forgetting all about magic and hitting the troll with a pipe. 

“Tackle it!” James screamed as Harry jumped and fastened his arms around the troll's neck. James felt adrenaline coursing through his arms as they tackled (if that’s what you could call sticking a wand up a troll's nose and hoping for the best) the troll. For a moment James seemed to forget this was happening to Harry and not him as a full grown adult, and only paused when he noticed Lily staring at him with her mouth slightly agape. 

James sat down slightly sheepishly. “Sometimes I forget,” he gestured to the veil. 

“That you’re kind of living vicariously?” Lily finished for him. She took his hand and squeezed it tight, and she knew he was feeling the draw to the action as well. 

` “You have to admit though Evans, that was pretty awesome.” 

“Oh that was really fucking awesome. Terrifying- 

“And impulsive,” James added 

“But so cool.”

James was impressed when Hermione Granger pinned the blame on herself, he had started to wonder if she was a little more stuck up than they liked to think after the whole Quidditch and _Leviosa_ incident. James remembered the muggleborns always having a desire to prove themselves, especially as the War started to drag on. In the end, they were awarded a total of 5 points. 

“Come on!” James protested. “They tackled a mountain troll. That’s 50 points easy. Each. I’d thrown in a special service to the school. All the teachers go too soft with points in first year.”

From then on, much to the relief of James and Lily, the boys were friends with Hermione Granger. 

James was ecstatic for the first Quidditch match of the season. He remembered puking up his breakfast the morning of his first match, and was glad for the most part Harry seemed to be keeping his cool. 

He watched as Harry circled the pitch, looking for the Snitch. It was interesting having a birds eye view of the Quidditch pitch, and James caught the golden ball floating by the Quaffle a moment before the commentator, Lee Jordan, did. Harry dived for the snitch and James hollered

“GO, GO GO FOR IT.” Harry was closing in- and Flint blocked into him. Lily gasped and slapped her hand to her mouth. 

“Ugh. The little shits in Slytherin always play dirty like that, blocking the Seeker and taking the penalty.”

Lily blushed, “I mean to be fair, I wasn’t really watching the Seeker much the last few Quidditch matches.” James grinned. He had played Chaser. Lee Jordan wasn’t having much of the Slytherin tactics either. 

_“So-after that disgusting bit of cheating”_

_“Jordan!” growled Professor McGonagall_

_“I mean, after that open and revolting foul-”_

_“Jordan, I’m warning you-”_

This same warning was made at every game by McGonagall, but James knew she was secretly enjoying it. Padfoot’s commentary hadn’t even been about the game, and he was still able to continue. 

He remembered the Quidditch Cup game in fifth year, Sirius commentating. James had been circling the Quidditch pitch, scanning the air for the familiar glint of the golden snitch. Or at least that’s what he was supposed to be doing. It wasn’t his fault Evans had chosen today to sit in the highest stands, and as that was the only time he could ever look at her back then without her piercing glare cutting through him, he honestly didn’t know how he was supposed to resist. 

“Potter from Gryffindor and Mervin of Slytherin, playing as seekers for the final game of 76’, both still looking for the snitch, although with where Potter’s eyes have been this whole time, you’d think the snitch had bright red hair and was sitting in the stands.” Sirius’s voice on the announcement podium had snapped James back into the game, and Padfoot had thrown him an apologetic shrug, his eyes sparkling mischievously. He had finally caught the snitch that time, managing to secure the cup and throw a wink at Lily at the same time.

James looked back at Lily, completely lost in marveling at how he was able to sit with her now, even in the afterlife, watching _their_ kid play. He barely even noticed her calling his name until she waved her hands in front of his face frantically. 

“James, his broom!” 

Harry’s broom was rolling in midair, and he was barely hanging on. The Weasley beaters were circling below him, trying to get him off but the broom kept jerking higher. James scanned the crowd, there was no way a brand new broom like that could malfunction. “Why doesn’t someone do something?”

“Lily, look at Snivellus,” he leaned forward. “What’s he muttering?” They both looked at the words he was silently shaping under his breath. 

“That’s Finite Incatatum, Lily said slowly. James looked at her sideways, but didn’t doubt his wife’s ability to identify spells. 

“If Snape’s muttering a counter jinx- then who’s jinxing-” he cut off, his eyes landing on Professor Quirrell, who was now muttering much more violently. James blinked and Quirrell was falling face first into the rows in front of him, and there was smoke coming up from Snape’s robe. He looked at Lily to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating and she grinned, pointing at the veil. Harry was climbing back on his broom and searching urgently for the Snitch. 

“It’s Hermione. They got the wrong person but it did the job.”

“Damn,” and there was a note of respect in his voice as they watched Hermione scamper through the stands. Suddenly, Harry dove down and James recognized the move immediately, he was diving for the snitch. He watched as Harry sank to his knees, and for a second James was sure he was about to be sick, but he hadn't seen the Snitch fly away. Harry coughed, and out of his mouth popped the golden ball of the snitch. James cheered

"That's one for dramatic entrances into the sport!!"

“You feel like someone else besides a twelve-year-old would have tried to do something to stop the jinx on the broom.” Lily said.

“And why was Snape trying to save Harry? He’s already making his life a living hell.” They both frowned at each other. Hagrid’s argument had been that Dumbledore trusted Snape, but to James, Dumbledore was on the very long list of people who had wronged his son, and wasn’t sure he had Harry’s best interests at heart. 

Christmas seemed to come even faster than Halloween. James had taken the tradition of writing Lily a sonnet based on one of her favorite Muggle books, figuring he had to keep up the dramatic romanticism from his Hogwarts days. The problem was that all the interesting Muggle books had a theme of death or the plights of the poor, neither of which made good love sonnets. He had originally intended to read _The Count of Monte Cristo_ , and while the main character reminded him of Padfoot, Dantes set out on a revenge spree after being wrongfully imprisoned in the book, and even he couldn't twist that to talk about Lily’s emerald eyes. 

This time however, the real treat was getting to watch Harry’s delighted face as he finally got presents. James was infinitely grateful to kind hearted Molly Weasley for sending Harry a package, although he did admit it stung a bit to see Harry trying on the Weasley sweater and molding into their family. 

The biggest surprise of all was when Harry opened the invisibility cloak. 

“Oi! There's the cloak! I thought that was lost forever, at least now he won’t risk getting caught by Filch this time. I’m surprised Dumbledore gave it back to a student; must have felt guilty-” The cloak was another reminder of what they could have done differently; what if James had his wand, what if they had the cloak, what if they weren’t so blind with Peter. What if’s were a rabbit hole they could not afford to go down. 

James watched eagerly as Harry contemplated which restricted place in the school he should go first (and settled on the _library_ of all places, he’d had to give another point to Lily)

He watched as Harry was caught by Filch and ran into a dark room. James didn’t recognize it, though he was sure he’d been everywhere in the castle. Suddenly, Lily jerked and grabbed his arm instantly. 

As Harry approached, the veil was shifting, turning more solid, until suddenly it looked just like a mirror. They weren’t just watching Harry anymore, they were looking right into his eyes. Harry muttered under his breath _“Erised stra ehru oyt cafru oyt wohsi.”_ James stood up, and after 10 years of watching Harry, their son looked back into their own eyes. 

Harry clapped his hands to his mouth and jumped back. James couldn’t help but grinning, his reaction to being startled was identical to Lily’s. Harry walked forward slowly, and they both smiled encouragingly as he pressed his nose to the glass, hardly believing their luck. He moved up until his eyes rested right by his mothers, and you couldn’t tell the difference between the two people he loved most in the world. Lily burst into silent tears beside him, and he put his arm around her, pulling her to his chest. They stood there for ages, the three of them breathing each other in, and James was vaguely aware of a tingling on the back of his neck. He didn’t have to turn to know it was his mother and father, and all the Potter’s spirits were behind him, all looking at Harry. 

James felt as if he were floating, he could have stayed there forever, beaming at his son, but a noise on Harry’s side drew them back. 

Harry glanced at them one last time. _“I’ll come back”_ he whispered. The moment Harry peeled his eyes away from the mirror, the glass swirled again into the mist of the veil, and the tingling on his neck vanished, leaving only the emptiness of the room. He looked down slowly at Lily, and found she was already looking back up at him. 

“Alright there Evans?” he whispered softly. She flung her arms up into his shoulder, and they both sank down onto their knees, wrapped in each other and sobbing softly, not knowing who’s tears were whose, only knowing they were together. 

They watched, tantalized as Harry and Ron staggered through the halls trying to find the mirror again. Lily had been reading, and James was able to translate the inscription above the mirror to be “ _I show not your face but your heart's desire.”_ James had a feeling there was a darker side to the mirror, or else it would be more widely known, but it was impossible to resist the need for Harry to see him again. He had struggled for ten years, watching Harry struggle through life alone, and now he could see there was someone watching over him. Even if he was a whole world away, he could be a father. 

That night he only got to see Harry for a few moments before Ron Weasley pulled him out of the room. James paced around the floor, feeling an irrational sense of anger towards Ron. It was hard to not become addicted to the momentary tranquility of having their whole family reconnected. He had dreamed about it all day only to be pulled away so the mirror could show a boy winning the Quidditch Cup. It was then that a voice in James’s head started to insist that he was a full grown adult, and wondering what this mirror might be doing to Harry. 

He could sense Harry’s preoccupation with the mirror in every action throughout the school day, and Harry returned to them as soon as the lights were out in the common room. He sat down, beaming up at them and for a moment James forgot all his concerns about the mirror's true nature, as the three of them were a family again. 

James was as startled as Harry was when Albus Dumbledore’s voice came from the back of the room. 

_“So, you like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised.”_

_“I didn’t know it was called that, sir.”_

_“But I expect you’ve realized by now what it does?- Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”_

Harry left then, and James watched as the mirror twisted back into the veil for the last time. Lily squeezed his hand, and there were a million unspoken words in the gesture. 

“It’s for the best,” she whispered. James slowly nodded and turned around. He was here now, he didn’t have any more life to live, he could afford thinking about endless possibilities. But they had died to give Harry a chance of life, and it wasn’t worth it to consume Harry’s thoughts with what could have been when a life was what he had. 

It wasn’t until much later, when Lily and James were sipping a mug of tea did a thought occurred to James

“What do you think Dumbledore really sees when he looks in the mirror?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the pacing is working ok, sorry if this one drags on a lot, it's tempting to rush through to get to the action in POA, but some Reg coming next. Thx again to anyone who's reading!!


	7. The betrayal of Sirius Black: Regulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius is sorted into Gryffindor at Hogwarts, leaving Regulus the new favorite son.

To Regulus, the day Sirius left for Hogwarts was the day everything changed. Orion and Walburga hadn’t seemed to realize their strategy of trying to dim the light on their oldest son was backfiring. They remained adamant that Sirius would go to Hogwarts and the other Slytherins could keep a check on him. 

King’s Cross was busy the day they arrived, and Orion spat on the tracks in disgust. 

“Absolutely-improper-to have our children exposed to this filth.”

Regulus had chimed in, thinking he knew where the conversation was going. “It’s a violation of the Statute of Secrecy, isn’t it Father, to have the platform be in a muggle train station? The Ministry is outrageous, this is absolutely disgusting.” Sirius snorted beside him 

“Stop trying to sound so posh Reg, you're already doing it enough.” Walburga, on the other hand, had taken the opportunity to rant about why they even needed to have the Statute of Secrecy in the first place. 

“Absolutely disgusting indeed. The Statute of Secrecy is oppressive to wizards everywhere. If the _muggles,”_ Walburga’s nostrils flared, as if the word physically pained her to say, “knew what was best for them, they’d let us lead them, then we would be able to keep the right within proper wizarding families, instead of having to treat it as a gift we’re sharing with mudbloods.” Sirius glared at Regulus for starting his mother on a tirade about the prestige of houses. 

Orion, having only come to apparate the boys, turned to look for a protected place to Disapparate. He glanced over Regulus, barely registering that he was there, before turning to Sirius. 

“Don’t disappoint us,” was all he said before walking away. 

Sirius was slouching lazily on the wall of the platform, trying to appear as it was of no meaning to him when he got to board the train. Regulus knew his brother well enough to recognize his tells that he was brimming with energy; the tapping of the foot, playing with the hem of his robe, and the ends of his ridiculously long hair. Walburga marched over and pulled Sirius behind a pillar of the station. Regulus stood off awkwardly to the side, not sure if he was supposed to be listening, but not really sure where else to go. 

“On the train-” Sirius cut her off. 

“Yes I know, I’m to sit with _darling_ Dromeda and Cissy, who I’m sure are so happy to see me-”Sirius flinched involuntarily as Walburga raised her hand, but she just cut him through with a glare. 

“Don’t interrupt you insolent boy.” His mother had gone on to layout the model behavior he was to exhibit but didn’t even mention the sorting ceremony. Walburga had refused to even toy with the idea that a Black could be sorted anywhere but Slytherin. Even Andromeda, who everyone agreed was a little off sometimes, was a Slytherin. The conductor gave the last whistle, and Regulus saw Sirius look anxiously over his shoulder. 

When she, at last, let him go, Sirius nearly took off at a run towards the train, but one glance from Walburga and he straightened his back, over dramatically walking towards the door. Sirius turned on the threshold and looked Regulus up and down. For a second Regulus thought he was going to tell him something, but at the last minute, he shifted. 

“Well, see you soon Reg,” was all he said. 

The moment Walburga saw Sirius get on the train, she strode over to his Uncle Cygnus, who was dropping off Narcissa for her fifth year. Regulus stood back, catching glimpses of Sirius as he passed by carriage windows. Regulus watched as Sirius took one look at the carriage with Narcissa and the Malfoy’s and continued on. Sirius took a seat next to a boy with glasses and messy black hair, and he knew mother would never have approved. Regulus glanced back to make sure his mother wasn’t looking and continued watching. The two boys seemed to hit it off immediately, and Sirius had his head tilted back; laughing. 

When Regulus returned to his room that night, he thought about the way Sirius was laughing on the train. Had Sirius ever laughed like that around him, even when they were younger? The answer was probably still yes, but to Regulus at the time, every memory he examined led him to the same question; did his brother even like him? 

The next day, the Blacks were sitting at the table, eating breakfast in silence when a letter arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place from his cousin Narcissa. His father opened it, read it over twice, and passed it to his mother. Regulus peaked over their shoulders, catching the line his mother was staring at. 

_Sirius has been sorted into Gryffindor- Love, Cissy_

His mother jerked around suddenly “Out!” She barked, and Regulus scampered off to his room. Sirius was in Gryffindor? Regulus could understand his parents' shock; Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were one thing, it would have meant he was soft and unfit for the house, but _Gryffindor?_ They were bitter rivals, Sirius had actively betrayed the family by sorting into there. 

Regulus had lied on his bed, pondering what this meant for his brother, but not what it meant for himself. He was startled when Walburga called him to his room that night, her voice dripping with fake honey. 

“Regulus, darling, you wouldn’t want to disappoint your mother and father, would you?” At the time, Regulus had just seen his mother's smile, but looking back, all he remembered were her cold, beady eyes. 

Regulus had never gotten much attention in the Black household. The Blacks revolved around tradition and maintained that his Father’s sole obligation towards the family was to prep the heir to take over the household. As the youngest son, Regulus was expected to represent the Ancient andMost Noble House of Black, but wasn’t expected to be anything but a model wizard. Ever since Sirius could talk, Walburga had spent most of her energy attempting to squash his brother's growing outbursts and never had much time for Regulus unless he was misbehaving. If Regulus had been like Sirius, he would have done something more drastic to garner his parent's attention, but as different people would remind him over the years, he wasn’t Sirius; and so spent most of his time staying hidden from the eyes of the family. 

Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor seemed to be the final straw for Walburga, and she had desperately turned her hand towards Regulus. He was enrolled in extra classes, with his mother overseeing his education, his every move. He was getting more attention than he ever had in his life, and he loved it. And his mother loved him, as she reminded him on a daily basis. 

She was doing this because she loved him, she reminded him as the sharp points of her rings slapped across his face. He needed to learn to be a proper Black. 

It was because she loved him that she locked him in his room for days with nothing but his school books; reminded him of how soft he was. He needed to learn the proper pureblood etiquette of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. 

Regulus was in the kitchen when the first letter in 3 months arrived from Sirius. Regulus scanned the package quickly, tucking the second slip of paper in his back pocket. 

_The Potter’s have invited me over for Christmas, and while I wanted to return back to you all, I am aware of how rude it would have been to turn down the invitation of a pureblood family. Don’t let it get you down, I know you all miss the peace and quiet I bring to the house. See you this summer!_ Sirius wouldn’t ask, he would just deal with the consequences later. That had always been his older brother’s way, _and still is_ Regulus thought to himself. 

Later, when he was alone in his room, he pulled out the other note from Sirius. 

_Hey Reg,_

_Don’t let me going off to the Potter’s ruffle moms feathers too much, they’re all pureblood.. James is amazing, and he has an invisibility cloak. Even Mom doesn’t have one of those. Then there is Remus (Don’t tell mother, but I think there ‘s something cool he’s hiding, I'll let you know this summer.) and Pete. You’ll like them all, I’ll introduce you next year when you get to Hogwarts._

Regulus read over the rest of the letter, which was mostly a detailed list of all the mischievous exploits he and James had gotten up to it. Regulus had been so excited to hear from his brother, but as he read over the letter, all he felt was a bitter frustration towards Sirius. He hadn’t written in 3 months, and then just to rub all that he was missing into him? 

And “I’ll introduce you next year,” did Sirius seriously expect them to be in the same house. Would it be possible for him to be a Gryffindor as well? Did Sirius think he could be? 

He remembered a few years ago when he had wanted to mimic everything Sirius did. His brother had found it amusing at the time; how Regulus tried to grow his hair out in the same way, roll up the sleeves of his robe, and read the same Muggle motorcycle catalogs. He had thought it was so cool at the time, but he heard Walburga’s voice in his head calling Sirius “Defective. A disappointment.” Why would Regulus want to be like that?

He read over the letter one more time and realized that instead of being cool, Sirius and his friends were just ridiculously immature. There was no reason to want to associate with people who were just going to stain your reputation, as Father had put it. 

Regulus tucked the letter into a drawer and pushed it out of his head. 

He didn’t hear from Sirius again until that Summer, when his brother turned up at the doorstep, walking behind a furious Walburga. The first thing Regulus noticed about Sirius were his eyes, openly sparkling with mischief. He had cracked jokes, attempted to go back to the way things were before he left for school. But as the days passed, Sirius spent more and more time in his room, writing lengthy letters to James that would be sent out by owl every night. 

Regulus knew Sirius well enough to know the consequences of trying to disturb Sirius when he was in a mood. Their interactions weren’t awkward, but overly polite as if they had lost the teasing jive of siblings. Regulus reasoned that if Sirius wanted to see him, he would have come already, but it seemed strikingly clear Sirius’s only thought was returning to Hogwarts. Sirius’s scars were too hard to avoid, though. He had taken to wearing long sleeves robes around the house, and Regulus sometimes caught sight of bruises he knew weren’t there before. 

Regulus had scars too, and he was less careful about covering them up. One time he had accidentally let his robe up, and the precise incision that had left a scar was revealed. Sirius’s eyes had fastened on it across the hall, and for a moment they just stared at each other. 

Sirius opened his mouth slightly and Regulus cleared his throat, brushing his robe back in place.

Regulus had almost reached his room when Sirius called out hoarsely “Reg?” Regulus paused, and then pushed open his door, pretending not to hear Sirius. He knew Sirius thought he was weak, he couldn’t possibly stand his brother’s pity. 

↟

Pacing behind the veil, Regulus closed his eyes. He wondered what could have happened if he had talked to Sirius that day. Maybe they would have shared what had happened to them, maybe they could have both seen another way. 

Probably not, Regulus told himself. He was a Slytherin through and through, even if he had betrayed the Black’s. That’s how it had always been. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone who's been reading + especially leaving suggestions, it's super helpful. Sorry if this chapter drags on a bit/ is a bit unrealistic


	8. Off To Hogwarts: Regulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andromeda Black runs off with her muggle-born boyfriend right before Regulus goes off to Hogwarts. In the afterlife, Regulus puzzles over how to figure out if Kreacher was able to destroy the horocrux.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning Last Reg chapter for awhile that's a little on the darker side, can't wait till the black bros can have a reunion. I've been writing a few happy marauders and Jily oneshots on the side while writing this, and if anyone's interested I'm posting some for some fluff to balance out the not greattt post 1981 Marauders life.

Regulus awoke the morning of September 1st with a pit in his stomach. Regulus had been able to focus on the wondrous parts of finally going to Hogwarts this summer, and as the date grew nearer, Sirius’s obvious excitement was infectious to Regulus , who would have otherwise spent the days incredibly anxious. Walburga had pulled him over, giving him a whole speech, threatening what would happen if he wasn’t sorted into Slytherin. 

“You’re a much better son, Regulus, so I know I don’t have to worry about this with you, but you will have to prove the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black doesn’t _have_ defects.” She had glared at the family tree while saying this, and she seemed anxious, almost frantic, which for his mother was quite unusual, as her usual demeanor was that of ice. She had walked him through exactly what he was to do once he reached the platform; sit with Narcissa and her crew; don’t even look at anyone else, and he was even to go so far as to demand the Sorting Hat put him in Slytherin, if all else failed. 

That was the first time his Mother had directly acknowledged “defective” Black’s, and later that day Regulus found out why. Word around was that Andromeda, Regulus’s cousin, was pregnant, and had run off with the muggle-born father the night before. Regulus didn’t know which his mother would consider worse in the traditional Black household, having a child before marriage, or marrying a mudblood. Either were enough to be labeled as “blood traitor” and striked from the family. Part of Regulus wondered what would have happened if Andromeda had waited a day later. 

Regulus walked onto the train glued to Narcissa, who was violently swearing out Andromeda to Regulus under her breath, but feigned cool indifference when her boyfriend, Lucius asked about it; clearly eager to wipe Andromeda out of any conversation. Regulus stared, even though Andromeda and Narcissa had never been particularly close, they were still sisters, and had supported each other for sixteen years. Mingling with the mudblood Ted Tonks and all his lot was surely the reason Andromeda had turned out defective, Narcissa reasoned to him. She wasn’t a pureblood Black anymore. 

“Stay away from the mudbloods and any riff raff who hang around them. When you mingle with their blood it turns you the wrong way.” Regulus didn’t mention Sirius, who had been sorted into Gryffindor without mingling with mudbloods at all. Perhaps it had been Potter on the train, Regulus told himself, he surely seemed like the type of pureblood to mingle with the wrong sort. 

An hour or so later, Regulus walked down to the loo, ducking past as he saw Sirius in one of the compartments near the back of the train. When Regulus exited, however, it was apparent they had seen him, as Sirius and three other boys were standing eagerly by the loo. 

“I’ve been waiting for you!” Sirius exclaimed. He was bouncing on the edge of his toes, feeding off the other boy's energy. There was a reckless spirit to him as well, as if with Potter there he was invincible. “James, Reg. Reg, this is James, Remus and Peter.” 

“Hey Reg!” said Peter and James at the same time. 

Suddenly Sirius’s childhood nickname for him sounded foolish and immature, just like his brother was. “It’s Regulus,” he said sharply. He looked at James Potter, with his messy hair and ridiculous glasses, and then at Remus who had scars slashed down his face to match his disheveled look. These were clearly the “wrong sort” of people. Without another word, Regulus shoved into Peter and marched back down the hall. He dared not look back at Sirius. 

Regulus stopped at an empty compartment on his way back, finding himself breathing heavily. He shrunk back into the seat, part of him half hoping Sirius would come after him. But why would he? To Regulus it had seemed like this was the end. They had both made their choices. It wasn’t Regulus’s responsibility Sirius had chosen to hang around dirty blood types and lesser families, it was only going to hurt him. 

As they pulled into the station that evening, Regulus stood by the lake, letting the crisp autumn winds blow through his hair. So this was Hogwarts. While Sirius and James had taken to singing a jig in a step dance celebrating the school, Regulus took in the magical power coursing from every stone of the castle. This was where generations of students and Black’s had made history. And it was his to make out of it. He wasn’t just another student passing through these walls, he was the heir to the most Noble house in Britain, and he intended to keep it that way. 

Regulus made his way up the steps with the rest of the first years, led by Professor Mcgonagall. She paused as she read out Black, Regulus, and he could see the question written in her eyes. Regulus walked across the Great Hall, and chanced a look at Sirius. He was sitting up straight like a dog, watching Regulus with hopeful eyes. The other three boys at the table were exchanging worried looks, their eyes flickering between Sirius and Regulus. What was Sirius hopeful for? That he’d go betray their family, their blood as well? He straightened his back and walked up to the Sorting Hat. 

Still, as the hat was placed over his head, a part of him whispered to himself, thinking about how Sirius’s eyes lit up when he talked about James, and Hogwarts. Maybe- Regulus’s rambling was cut off when the hat started talking. 

_ “Ahh, another Black. What to do with you? So conflicted, and for what? You’ve certainly got the wit for Ravenclaw, but that’s not it is it?”  _ Regulus remembered what his mother had warned, and tried to cram all thoughts of Sirius out of his head. 

_ “You’ve got the ambition, cunning, and all the family talent right here in your head. Why, the only place for you is  _ SLYTHERIN!” The hat shouted the last word, and the table on the far right exploded in applause. Regulus strode over and sat next to Narcissa, who patted him on the shoulder. Regulus finally looked up, surveying the crowd. None of the faces looked moderately surprised, although some at the Gryffindor table looked slightly angry. With a great surge of effort, he met Sirius’s eyes, knowing he could read the fear in them. Sirius was still sitting straight up, the betrayal lining his face like an open book. 

Later Regulus would sit in his dorm, feeling hollow, but in the heat of the moment all Regulus felt was anger. Why would Sirius expect anything else out of him? He never had before, and the hat had proved him right,  _ the only place for you is Slytherin.  _ He ripped his eyes away from the table and did not look back again. 

↪

Unlike most of his fellow students, Regulus enjoyed the theory part of his classes over the practical. Being from a pureblood household, Regulus already knew most of the incantations in the  _ Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.  _ Anyone could memorize spells all day, but great wizards, Regulus had read, understood how to use the magic itself, not just the wand work. 

Regulus was sitting on the outskirts of the forest, reading, when he heard the crackling of leaves nearby, and looked up to see a third year class trampling towards the forest. Regulus often came outside to do his homework, he didn’t understand how anyone could stand to sit all day in the musty common room. The Forest was well and truly alive, and every noise was a different creature Regulus didn't know yet.

He followed behind the class of Slytherins, sticking close to the trees. Regulus was already tall enough to see between the heads of the class, and saw the winged creature Professor Kettleburn was leading out. Regulus recognized it immediately; a hippogriff. He stood up straight, utterly enthralled by the majestic creature. It was beautiful, and Regulus felt a rush of annoyance at those in the class still chatting. The hippogriff rose his head and Regulus met its eyes, showing the strength and dominance you needed to form a bond with the creature. The class turned and stared at him, and Regulus stood up, daring someone to challenge why he was there.

No one said a word, and Regulus strode forward, bowed to the Hippogriff and touched its wings. Kettleburn was watching him with a puzzled expression, but Regulus didn’t say a word, just nodded and moved back. 

After class, he approached Kettleburn. 

“How do I take this?” He burst out, and then scolded himself, he should never reveal how much he wanted something. 

“You're a Black right?”

“Regulus.” 

“I can always tell when a student has a knack for wild animals. Rare to see a Slytherin with such a natural touch, but you all always surprise us.” He winked, and Regulus shifted, he wasn’t talking about Sirius or Andromeda, was he? “Did you want to ride the Hippogriff?” Kettleburn whispered conspiratorially. Regulus nodded once. 

He grasped onto the mighty wings of the Hippogriff, he could feel the muscles underneath his legs clenching and unclenching. Instincts seemed to take over, and the Hippogriff took off, soaring over the lake. He could feel the wind whistling in his hair; the cool mist of the water hitting his face. Regulus circled once and then landed back beside Kettleburn, grinning. He attempted to straighten his hair, finding it was as messy as Potter’s.

↪

Sirius went to the Potter’s again for winter break, leaving Regulus on the platform alone for the first time. Walburga was waiting outside the entrance to the station, refusing to stand in the “Muggle filth zone” for longer than necessary. 

Regulus returned to Grimmauld Place, his insides still spinning from the Apparation, and staggered into his room. He flicked on the fireplace with his wand, longing for the comforting smell of the Forest. Magical creatures were seen as dirty to have in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, but as Regulus heard the clattering of dishes below he remembered, there was another creature (and an aptly named one at that) in the house besides Walburga and Orion. 

“Kreacher?” He called out, and heard a crack beside him. 

**↟:In the afterlife**

Kreacher. What was he doing? Had he destroyed the locket? Had he even escaped in the first place? He felt a rush of fear at the thought that maybe it  _ hadn’t  _ worked, what if he had done all that for nothing? But he had come all this way, he needed to see the plan through. 

“Kreacher.” he breathed. 

The veil didn’t move. Regulus glared in disbelief, while Kreacher might not technically be blood, his lineage was part of the Black household for generations, and Regulus considered him more family than his cousins. Maybe there was somewhere he could have gone better, some part of the plan that was flawed. Could Kreacher even destroy the Horcrux? 


	9. A very terrifying year all around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no way that Hogwarts would willingly put students into dangerous situations, right? And there's no way the teachers would put protections on the most powerful object in history that an eleven-year-old could get through, right? So there's really no reason to worry.

“A DRAGON?” Lily repeated. “Hagrid. Brought a Dragon. Into a wooden hut.” 

“And now Harry, for some reason, has taken the responsibility for deciding what to do with the dragon. And what they’ve decided is to take it up the Astronomy Tower in the dead of night.” Lily groaned, Harry seemed to have all the good intentions in the world with all of James’s infinite capacity to get into trouble.

“How’d he even get a dragon off of someone in the first place? It’s not something one would normally carry around in their purse.”

James was studying the letter the boys were reading from Charlie Weasley. “You know, I’m satisfied with all our pranks at school, but I think besides the mermaid incident, one of the areas we were lacking was in the magical creatures department. I feel like we could have put a dragon to good use. Or a Thestral! Imagine the chaos that would cause, no one would be able to find it!” James said eagerly. 

“What? Running around with a werewolf once a month wasn’t enough dangerous stimulation for you?” Lily teased “Not sure releasing Wild Creatures would be in the best taste given that whole situation.” Once she started hanging around Potter’s tight circle, she started to realize the lengths James would go to protect someone he loved. He would never have done anything he thought could hurt Remus. 

James and Lily watched that night as Harry and Hermione snuck through the school under the cover of the invisibility cloak. One glance at James and Lily could tell he was missing his own wanderings of the castle under the veil of darkness. 

Lily leaned in to give James a quick peck on the cheek. They both looked up to see Hermione dancing to herself 

“ _ Malfoy’s got detention! I could sing!”  _

_ “Don’t.” was all Harry said  _

“Oh god, they’re going to jinx it,” Lily said 

“They will be fine, do you know how many times we’ve snuck out under the - Oh shit.”

“Did they forget the cloak?”

“They forgot the cloak. You can’t just leave the cloak. That’s my baby right there.”

“Harry, your actual baby, just got caught by McGonagall.”

“Hey they’ll be fine, we’ve gotten caught wandering the halls before, it's good to start setting the detention record for the year early.” James grinned but faltered. Lily had only ever seen McGonagall this angry once before, after the infamous “prank” Fifth year. 

“ _ I think I've got a good idea of what’s going on. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble.” _

“Why would she think that? They wouldn’t deliberately roam the halls if they had lured a student and teacher out.” Lily said incredulously 

“Because it’s something we would do,” James said grimly. 

“ _ Fifty points  _ **_each.”_ **

**** James sat up straight, pushing his hair back. 

“One hundred and fifty? One hundred and fifty points?” Lily demanded.

“That’s outrageous!” James looked personally betrayed. 

“And she took 20 off of Draco?” 

“One hundred and fifty points and only one detention? I’d get a week's worth of detention for sneaking out, but only 10 points off Gryffindor.” McGonagall was obviously trying to stamp out any chance she would have to live through another gang of pranksters, sinking in with her teeth: hurting Gryffindor instead of individual punishment. Harry might have some of James’s sass, but he really was just trying to look out for his friends. 

The next days were so incredibly painful for Lily, who only ever wanted to make the Gryffindors, his family, proud was now outcast from the rest of the school. It would blow over at some point, these things always did, but to a first-year, it would seem like the entire world. She remembered the pride of winning her first house points in Potions. Lily reached across and grasped James’s hand, thinking about the joyous times when their biggest worry was the House Cup, or winning Quidditch. 

_ “I suppose you think you’ll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy- it’s into the forest you go and I’m much mistaken if you’ll all come out in one piece.” _

“They’re going into the forest. For detention? No one wonder she took off so many points, they’ve really upgraded their detentions,” James joked. “I’ve had to clean out the dungeons after a pus explosion.” Lily was amused to see how Harry faced the situation almost nonchalantly compared to the rest of his classmates, especially Malfoy.

“ _ But this is servant stuff. It’s not for students to do. I thought we’d be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he’d-” _

It soon became apparent, however, that they were not going into the woods for routine maintenance or a little scare, but tracking dead unicorns. 

“You feel like they’d be able to get someone other than first-years to do this. And splitting them up? That’s practically asking for something to go wrong.”

“You know, we spent our whole time purposely getting ourselves into dangerous situations that I forgot how hazardous Hogwarts is on its own.”

“ _ GET BEHIND THE TREE!” Hagrid cried.  _ Lily and James squinted to try to catch the figure slithering over the dead leaves. 

“ _ I knew it. There‘s summat in here that shouldn’ be.” _

_ “A werewolf?” Harry suggested  _

“It’s not even a full moon. Why is there so much miseducation about the dangers of werewolves in the Wizarding World,” James ranted. “If we just had basic education Moony wouldn’t have had a hard time at all.” James had shown her a presentation he had made as a second-year on werewolf rights, complete with photographs of Remus folding his socks to prove the harmlessness. She knew he was still secretly miffed he never got to present it anywhere.

“Well if there was any common sense at all at school surrounding werewolves Moony’s secret would have been out in the first year. I mean: sick every full moon, scars,” Lily counted on her fingers “constantly referred to as having a “Furry Little Problem,” “coming up on a time of the month.” 

“Not to mention that Remus cannot make up good lies to save his life. He once claimed his Great Aunt was sick for three months in a row.” They both chuckled and leaned into one another, but were cut off by Malfoy’s scream. 

A hooded figure had leaned down and was beginning to drink the unicorn's blood. Lily jerked her hand out and grabbed James’s arm as the figure moved towards Harry. Harry staggered backward and they could see the pain coursing through his every muscle, his hand jerked to his forehead. Lily was at a total loss for words, but she could feel the tension in James’s arm and knew they both were thinking the same thing. 

“It’s him.” Lily ground out. She had faced Voldemort four times, she knew in her gut that was who was causing Harry’s pain. That’s who was after the stone. 

“He just stood right in front of Voldemort. If the Centaurs hadn’t-” James couldn’t finish, Lily felt him shaking beside her, restraining the urge to charge at the veil. Harry’s various expeditions around the walls of Hogwarts were all fun and games, and she knew James thought a bit of trouble was good for everyone. But their son had now faced Voldemort twice, and this time they weren’t there to protect him. 

“ _ It is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn,” Firenze was saying “Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price.” _

__ It wasn’t until Harry was safely back in the castle walls that Lily was able to breathe again. 

“Someone had to drink the blood for Voldemort, I’ve read all about unicorn blood, which means-”

“Who else?” James said bitterly 

It all clicked into place; the Quidditch match, the scar, the turban, the Stone. They both glanced at each other, eyes wide with fear. Lord Voldemort was possessing a Hogwarts teacher, in the same castle as their son, and there was nothing they could do about it. 

They watched Harry struggle through his first exams (Lily thought he’d done rather well on the practicals for all sections, and his mediocre performance on the written was very justifiable, seeing as the spirit of Lord Voldemort was stabbing his head all day.) 

They had spent eleven years watching Harry be painstakingly oblivious to the world around him, but he definitely had that Seeker quality of spotting small details others might have missed. Harry was striding towards Hagrid's hut now, 

“ _ Don’t you think it’s a bit odd,” said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, “That what Hagrid wants more than anything else in the world is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who happens to have a dragon in his pocket? Lucky they found Hagrid, don’t you think? Why didn’t I see it before?”  _ Harry confronted Hagrid with a degree of professionality he hadn’t shown before, and they were soon running up the steps back to the castle. 

“Hagrid, bless his heart, I love the man, but, why is he the Secret Keeper-

“Not a great choice of wording” James cut in. 

“Ok. Why is Hagrid the only one in the world who knows how to get past the trapdoor to the most powerful object in existence?” 

The three of them had run to Professor Mcgonagall, 

“ _ Professor, I think-- I know-- that Sn- that someone’s going to try to steal the stone, I’ve got to talk to Professor Dumbledore.” _

__ _ “Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow. I don’t know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it’s too well protected.” _

__ __ James looked incredulous. “I mean maybe it’s because we are looking at this a bit in retrospect, but you feel like believing The Boy Who Lived a bit more? If anything, telling a Potter no just leads to more stupid decisions.”

“Why. Does everyone always believe one magic spell that relies on one person with information can protect everything? It’s like the other side  _ can also use magic.”  _ James and Lily, who were two of the most trusting people in the universe, would forever regret the Fidelius Charm, and Lily knew James had spent several years hopelessly questioning all of his relationships. 

“Maybe they’re using a Muggle alarm, that could alert anytime anyone tried to go near the trapdoor. If I was designing something like that, I’d use Fluffy and the other traps as a diversion 

“ _ I’m going out of here tonight and I’m going to try and get to the Stone first”  _

__ _ “You’re mad!” Ron exclaimed.  _ __

Lily pursed her lips. If Quirrell was going after the stone and Mcgonagall wouldn’t listen, that was the easiest way to prove someone was breaking in, seeing as the trapdoor would still be open.

“They’ll get in loads of trouble, but there is simply no way they can actually get past the trapdoor, there must be other protections.”

“I don’t doubt Harry’s abilities to do advanced magic,” James chimed in, agreeing with Lily. “But of course there is no way the protections would be bypassable by an eleven-year-old, or any student really.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit since my last post, but we're almost at the end of first year, thanks so much to everyone who's reading!! Can't wait for the story to pick up a bit more on both ends :)


	10. Unanswered Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End of first year :)

“Incendio!” James shouted at the veil, miming motions with his wand. 

There wasn’t much James was afraid of, it came with hanging out with a gang of reckless daredevils his whole life. But watching his son creep closer and closer to a potential encounter with Lord Voldemort was definitely one of them. He still could barely close his eyes without seeing a flash of green light, without the terror of his last thought- that Harry and Lily were upstairs. That he failed them. He couldn’t bear to fail Harry again. 

Over the past hour, he and Lily had watched with mounting terror as Harry, Ron, and Hermione petrified Neville, and then snuck out under the invisibility cloak towards the third-floor corridor. He was even too terrified to appreciate Harry’s tactic of mimicking the Bloody Baron to get rid of Peeves, which even James hadn’t used as a student. When Harry looked down into an endless black pit, swung his legs over, and let go, James lost it. 

He disconnected from the veil, what normally felt as if he was standing right next to Harry, he was now watching as a movie. He could still feel the paralyzing terror in the back of his head, but it was for someone else, not his son. If he continued to watch, while knowing he could do nothing, he would not be able to stand back up again. 

The trio landed on a plant, which James instantly recognized as Devil’s Snare. 

“ _ Devil’s Snare, Devil’s Snare... What did Professor Sprout say?---it likes the dark and the damp.” _

_ “So light a fire.” Harry croaked out  _

_ “Yes-of course- but there ‘s no wood!” Hermione said.  _

“Incendio! Incendio!” He screamed it louder as if that would make him hear him. Lily glanced over at James, her eyes full of understanding. She was still watching with panicked eyes, thinking about Voldemort. Lily, with her undying resilience and bravery, was hanging on for longer than he could. 

_ “HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Ron bellowed “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”  _ Hermione pulled out her wand and shot out blue flames. 

_ “Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione,” Harry said.  _

“Lucky they teach the spell needed to get past the castle's greatest defenses in first year,” James muttered. 

“That’s our son right there. Not losing his head in a crisis.” Lily smiled. 

“Really wish I had that sense ten years ago. Could have gone full Prongs mode on Voldemort. The man may be immortal, but I assure you no one appreciates being impaled by my antlers.”

On one hand, James felt the knot in his chest loosening, knowing that they weren’t about to be choked to death, on the other, they were one step closer to Voldemort. 

The next room was full of what appeared to be birds, and Harry, expecting the birds to swoop down and attack him, ran across the room. 

“ _ They’re not birds! They’re keys!” _

“A Quidditch obstacle?” Lily muttered, her eyebrows lifted towards the ceiling 

“Hey, Flitwick’s just making sure only truly talented wizards who have their priorities straight can get past.”

James cheered as Harry streaked towards the correct key, pinning it against the wall. “Oi Evans, remember how you used to tell me “to get my head out of my ass and start doing  _ real magic  _ because flying on a broom isn’t getting me anywhere in the real world?” James gestured towards the veil and bowed. “All because of my time on the Quidditch pitch.”

The next room was a giant chessboard, and the teams were required to  _ play chess  _ to get across. 

“McGonagall had a bit too much fun with this one,” said James. Didn’t it make much more sense to just have the pieces only let the person who enchanted it cross? 

They both were stumped, however, as neither James nor Lily had much interest in Wizard’s Chess. James watched in amazement as Ron Weasley played an entire game without losing his nerve. The knowledge that a mistake could leave you shattered on the ground by a chess piece would have messed up many wizards. 

“These obstacles really seem to be made for the three of them,” said Lily 

“You know, for most of my life I really thought I was the titular character, but he just has all the pieces right.”

“Being famous from the day he was born but not knowing it, dead parents, Quidditch hero, solved a mystery, yep. Definitely the main character,” Lily added. 

“You know, I bet we have a much more interesting time than others in the afterlife watching the veil. Terrifying, but exhilarating.” 

They were both jerked back by Hermione screaming, and saw Ron crash to the floor, the white queen tossing him in a heap to the side of the board. Lily clapped her hand to her mouth, shaking. 

_ What if he’s- _

__ _ “He’ll be alright,” said Harry. “What do you reckon’s next?” _

__ “They’re leaving him?” James gasped. His own instinct was to drop everything and make sure everyone was safe, but Harry had his mind set on the duty he thought he needed to perform, and nothing was going to dissuade him. That was one thing Harry had gotten straight from Lily. 

They passed by the troll, which had already been taken out, and landed on the last obstacle, potions. As Hermione read out the riddle, an unspoken competition launched between the two of them. 

No sooner had Hermione finished reading than Lily let out a victorious yelp and stuck a hand behind her back. James knew she was holding up the number vial was right, but was waiting for him to get it first. A minute later, he grinned at her and stuck his hand behind his back as well, just before Hermione announced 

“ _ Got it. The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire- Towards the Stone.”  _

They both held out three fingers, corresponding to the smallest vial. 

“How’d you get it so fast?” James marveled. 

“I recognized the potions in the bottle,” Lily said simply. “Severus probably thought no one was talented enough at Potions to know,” James remembered Lily naturally breezing by at Potions, Once you memorized the steps it was simple, just required precision and a magical sense, and Lily barely even studied for the Potions NEWT.

Harry had taken the small bottle in his hand, preparing to go through the fire. 

James felt Lily take his hand and he gripped it tightly as Harry took a drink from the bottle. They watched as their son, who had walked through obstacles most wizards wouldn’t dare to go near and hadn’t balked, stepped through the fire and ran into Professor Quirrell. 

_ “You!” Harry gasped. _

_ “Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror.” _

“Oh!” James gasped. “It’s the Mirror of Erised.” But when Harry looked in the mirror, he knew he did not see them, but the Stone itself. Lily’s eyes widened beside him in understanding. 

“ _ The mirror is the key to the stone. Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this..” _

Harry seemed to be making the wise decision and trying to distract Quirrell, doing what in James’s opinion was the only reasonable train of thought, talking about Snivellus. 

“ _ But Snape always seemed to hate me so much.” _

__ _ “Oh, he does, heavens yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn’t you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead.”  _

Harry attempted to flee, but a raspy voice rang out from Quirrell's turban. 

“ _ He lies… He lies…”  _ Quirrell reached and began to unwrap his turban. James started. 

“No. No. He’s not- on him.” They both had assumed Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, and that’s why Harry’s scar hurt, but on the back of Quirrell's head was a face. Staring right at Harry, for the second time, was Lord Voldemort. 

Lily screamed beside him, and they wrapped their arms around each other, both shaking as Voldemort demanded the stone. James was able to face Voldemort himself standing up straight, but not being able to dive in front of his son, protecting him. 

“ _ Don’t be a fool, better save your own life and join me.. Or you’ll meet the same end as your parents. They died begging me for mercy… _

_ “LIAR!” Harry shouted  _

_ “How touching..” Voldemort hissed. “I always value bravery.. Yes boy, your parents were brave... I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight.. But your mother needn’t have died.. She was trying to protect you.. Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain.” _

__ Red spots danced in front of James’s vision, how dare Voldermort be using Lily’s name in vain. They hadn’t died to be used against Harry, but for Harry to do what he was now, standing up against evil. James knew his son, and Harry would never surrender the Stone. 

“It’ll be ok.” James choked out, trying to convince himself. “He survived before. We protected him.”

“Just then though. We’re not there now.”

“ _ NEVER” Harry shouted.  _

Quirrell launched onto Harry and both Harry and Quirrell started screaming, Quirrell's fingers blistering and dissolving before his eyes. It was hard to keep track of what was going on, all they could hear was screaming, Voldemort screaming to Kill Harry, Harry screaming from pain as Quirrell tried to touch him, Quirrell dissolving into pieces.

Harry lost consciousness and fell to the floor, and they watched as Albus Dumbledore strode in, fiery anger burning in his eyes, ripping Quirrell off of Harry. He levitated Harry with a stroke of his wand and strode out of the room, pocketing the stone on the way out. 

Harry awoke again in the hospital wing. James had been there many times over the years, visiting Remus or after getting hit by a Bludger. But never had he seen the eyes of Dumbledore smiling in his face. 

“ _ Well… Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?”  _

James and Lily both leaned forward, eager to hear Dumbledore’s answer, even if it was to be a few words. Dumbledore had always withheld  _ why  _ Voldermort was after them, the knowledge that he was after Harry had been enough to go into hiding. They had just managed to get out of him that it had something to do with a Prophecy, they had guessed something to do with Harry’s powers. But they had yearned to know the full contents for eleven years. James wondered if he knew the reason, he may have been able to protect him better. 

“ _ Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. Put it from your mind for now. When you are ready, you will know.” _

__ After a very agonizing day, James found himself unreasonably angry with Dumbledore. Harry had just navigated the most powerful protections in the school and Dumbledore was puzzling him with half-truths. 

But Harry’s last question surprised both of them, asking why Snape hated him. Dumbledore explained that they detested each other, and then 

“ _ He saved his life. I do believe he worked so hard to protect you because he couldn’t bear being in your father’s debt. If he protected you, he could go back to hating your father’s memory in peace.” _

Lily shook her head beside him. “Boys,” she muttered. James frowned. Snape didn’t consider himself in his debt, he seemed to think James was the one trying to get him killed in the first place. And seeing how he had continued being a prick to him (behind Lily’s back, of course, he deserved it), he didn’t think Snape would go out of his way to protect Harry like that. 

When you love someone for a while, you notice who else’s eyes stray towards them as well, and over the years, James had noticed Snape’s eyes staring at Lily a little too much. Perhaps it was why Snape loathed him even more than Sirius. James looked at his wife’s beautiful emerald eyes, and back to the identical pair on Harry’s face. Perhaps Snape loathed him, but couldn’t let Lily’s eyes die. He wasn’t quite sure whether to be relieved or repulsed at this revelation. 

Lily nudged him, “James,” she said softly. She was looking at the gift Hagrid had given Harry. Harry opened it, and James saw himself and Lily staring back up. Pictures he hadn’t seen before, that brought back happier times, their wedding, the day they graduated, and even a picture of the Marauder’s together. The boy in the photo pulled out a piece of parchment, and James knew they must have come from Remus. 

“I wonder where Padfoot and Moony are,” James said. Lily looked at him, her brows knit tightly together. 

“Something just doesn’t sit right,” Lily said slowly. As Harry boarded the train and arrived at King’s Cross, they both sat up, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sirius or Remus. Maybe one of them had heard from Hagrid and decided to surprise Harry? But all that was waiting for him was plum faced Vernon Dursley. 

They were both silent for a minute before Lily stood up. 

“Well, that was certainly an interesting year.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of 1st year, can't believe so many ppl have read this far. Let me know how the pacing is for this part, 2nd year will be shorter and more Regulus heavy. (Also the last part of the book in my copy is missing so it's done from memory if things are a bit messed up)


	12. A host of revelations: Regulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regulus catches up on some things he was unaware of from Sirius's life ;) 
> 
> Added wolfstar to the tags :)
> 
> CW: homophobia, internal homophobia

Regulus’s new routine of maladaptive daydreaming through his years at Hogwarts was cut short when a figure walked through the veil. He had been going through his time in Quidditch, one of his favorite’s at school, and had originally thought the noise was a Bludger flying by. 

But when he turned, the towering figure of Orion Black stood above him. Regulus staggered back onto the floor, all of his normal agility gone. 

“Father-” Regulus burst out, half grieving, half frightened. One look at Orion’s face and Regulus could tell whatever story the Dark Lord had told them about his death, it wasn’t a pleasant one. Orion looked at him sideways, his gaze cold and calculating. His parents had never actively supported Voldemort, but he had been branded as defective and a coward, the worst thing a Black could possibly be. Part of him wanted to tell his father what he had done, maybe he would be proud, surely they would have denounced The Dark Lord as well if they found out about the Horcrux. He had always thought he and his parents were on the same wavelength, but now he wasn’t sure.

Orion broke the silence, gesturing towards the veil quizzically. 

“It allows you to see our family,” Regulus said. “You can watch over here or proceed to the afterlife.” 

He knew what Orion would choose. It’s what he had chosen since day one, the family was just a title to him, he had done his job and was now dead. His father had no obligation to any of them.

“So you’ve seen it all. What’s your blood traitor brother up to?” Sirius had stopped being his son long ago. Regulus was silent, but Orion must have read the look on his face. 

“You haven’t looked. I thought we had hardened you up, but you’re still as soft as ever, Regulus.” Orion strode past him, clearly following a voice inside his head. 

He almost faded into the distance when Regulus finally heard his voice ring out. 

“Should you be ashamed to be our son?” It was a genuine question, perhaps the first his father had truly asked. What happened to him? Was Regulus rebelling against the family, just like his brother?

Regulus looked his father straight in the eye for the last time. The Blacks were powerful, they were noble and that did not necessarily mean cruel. He chose to believe his parents wouldn’t have crossed that line, into insanity to follow the Dark Lord. 

“No,” Regulus said, and the word contained a million answers. 

“Good. You’ve always been a Black through and through.” Neither of them asked the other how they had died. 

Regulus collapsed to the floor. He had done it. Thought about his family’s whereabouts, and not even of his own accord. It had taken a death to think about it, but Orion was right. He was being a coward sitting up here, not moving on, but not looking at his family. 

He braced himself, sat up, and breathed “Sirius Black.” 

The veil parted and Regulus could almost smell the chill breeze engulfing the terrain. He recognized the trees, but why was Sirius in a forest? A howl came from the bushes and Regulus identified it with a jolt of fear- a werewolf. 

Was Sirius in the forest with a werewolf? Had he tried to run with one for fun? Was he really so reckless he had resorted to this? 

The werewolf came into view, followed by a massive, black, shaggy dog, who was running around in circles, wagging its tail and barking. Behind those two came a Stag valiantly charging alongside the dog and werewolf- and hidden in the leaves, was that a rat? 

It was the strangest sight Regulus had ever seen, but for some reason, he was fixated on the dog. It seemed so carefree and wild- had Sirius been trapped in a dog? Or maybe the veil was just existing to torture him. 

Regulus leaned back on his elbows and watched as the moon sank down. The werewolf sank to its knees howling, and the three animals crowded around it, concerned. There was a large crack and where the werewolf was before laid Remus Lupin, covered in mud. 

Regulus’s jaw dropped. So Snape had been, right? Severus had gone through the common room to anyone who would listen, spreading his conspiracies about the Marauders. Regulus hadn’t listened much, Snape wasn’t very popular, and Regulus had long before decided to stay out of the way of Sirius and his friends. But if Lupin was a werewolf… then the animals were. 

He got his answer as the Black dog stood up on its hind legs and transformed into his brother. An Animagus. 

Regulus pinched himself. There was no way Sirius could have been an Animagus, surely Regulus would have known, but then again why would he? It's _ not like you ever told him anything either.  _ Despite himself, Regulus was impressed. It took serious magic and nerve to turn into an Animagus, and they must have done it right under the teacher’s noses. A memory came back to Regulus, he must have seen Sirius’s dog form before. 

A _ Hogsmeade trip in his fifth year, he had been sitting in the Three Broomsticks, looking out the window. Regulus noticed Snape glaring daggers at a few figures strolling down the snow, and  _ _   
_ _ Regulus didn’t have to look to know who it was. Lily Evans was walking with two other Gryffindor girls, laughing and walking backward away from a grinning James Potter. Ever since the mud blood had finally ditched Snape, he had become even more of a creep around the common room. Slytherin was about ambition and cunning, not for half-bloods to sulk over a muggle-born, Regulus thought. A big black dog, who Regulus now realized was Sirius, had jumped out suddenly behind the girls, nipping at their robe. It rolled over on its belly and the girls leaned down to fawn over it.  _

__ _ “This is Snuffles, he’s really a naughty boy,” James had said. “He seems to really like you, Evans, maybe you could come over and teach him a few tricks?” Regulus could have sworn the dog winked at Lily, but he fancied it a trick of the light.  _

Regulus chuckled to himself, his head clearing. Sirius had become an illegal Anamagi and then openly went around as a dog. It was so like his brother that Regulus didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it sooner. At least he had gotten the big surprise out of the way and could see what Sirius was doing with his life. 

Sirius was crouched on the ground of the forest, waving his wand around Lupin’s cuts, closing them up. 

“I better be off,” James was saying “Lily Evans Potter, you know  _ my wife _ , needs me to be home, for the baby that will be  _ my son-” _

“That you’re having with Lily Evans,” Lupin finished. 

“Don’t forget the Potter, you know, because they're  _ married,”  _ Sirius said, hugging his friend goodbye. 

“We’ll never hear the end of it will we,” said the other boy, Pettigrew. “I best be off as well, got places to be.” The two of them Apparated away until it was just Remus and Sirius. 

“You feeling ok? Need some rest?” Sirius asked. 

“When it’s just the two of us alone in a forest? Regulus was barely keeping up, and was still processing this line of dialogue when Remus Lupin leaned up and kissed Sirius. 

_ KISSED SIRIUS? KISSED. SIRIUS. A MAN. KISSING. HIS BROTHER.  _

__ Regulus’s first thought was that Lupin was delusional after a night in the woods. Maybe they both still had the brains of their Animagi? But no, Sirius was kissing him back. He must have been dead too long, or the veil was malfunctioning because this was not the Sirius Black he knew. 

Sirius Black put posters of muggle girls in bikinis on his wall to annoy his parents, he was not a “queer.” Regulus swiped the veil away, feeling like he had observed something far too intimate.

His reflex was to ask himself, what would Mother do? He shuddered to even think about it, his mother had threatened to use Unforgivable Curses on “queers” It was worse than dating a muggle-born, being queer. His mother had used far worse terms to describe those people, but Regulus couldn’t quite see his brother that way. 

Part of him wanted to turn off the veil in disgust, never look at his brother again. He knew he shouldn’t want the defectiveness rubbing off against him. It was his default, to turn away from anything  _ wrong.  _

But he had just seen the four of them running around in the full moon, he had seen the joy in Sirius’s eyes. He wasn’t at home anymore, he was dead, and frankly, no one gave a shit what he thought. And after seeing Orion, Regulus didn’t want to spend the entirety of the afterlife hating his family for making him think this way and hating his brother for being different. His brother had been right before. He was right about the Dark Lorde, maybe even right about his parents. 

A pang ran through Regulus’s chest, how did he not know? Even though Sirius always acted as if it was the other way around, Regulus was the one who had protected Sirius, who had allowed him to live in his rebellious ways; as long as he wasn’t the heir.  _ But you haven’t been brothers for a long time,  _ Regulus thought to himself. 

Perhaps it was time to start getting to know Sirius Black again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -This ended up being a pretty heavy chapter (although not technically canon-compliant) .. hope I did it some justice but please comment with any suggestions, but I do see this being a hard process for Reg unfortunately  
> -thanks to everyone that's reading, hope this can be the first step in healing their relationship (although I'm still planning on flashing back to his story sometimes!!)  
> \- I wrote a whole sequence with different members of the Black household + Uncle Alphard (another shock for Reg) only to realize he canonically died in 1976 :(.


	13. Second Year: Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 1-3 of COS!!

The only benefit, Lily decided, of watching Harry at the Dursleys instead of Hogwarts, was the return of the sass they had known for his first ten years. Harry hadn’t mentioned to the Dursleys’s he couldn’t do magic outside of school and was clearly enjoying tormenting the Dursleys. Lily felt she herself had contributed to this, as she hadn’t mentioned the Trace to Tuney either as secret payback for her snide comments on the platform. 

“ _ Pass the frying pan,” Dudley demanded  _

__ _ “You’ve forgotten the magic word,” said Harry irritably.  _ James snorted as Dudley fell out of his chair in shock. 

“ _ I meant “please,”  _ Harry said hurriedly, “ _ I didn’t mean-” _ But Uncle Vernon had already exploded. The atmosphere around Number 4, Privet Drive had certainly changed this summer. The Dursleys were typically absolutely horrid to Harry when he was around, but neglected him at all other times. This summer he was put under lock and key, and the Dursleys were constantly on edge. 

Lily was reminded of how disadvantaged Muggle-born students were over the summer, not being able to use magic outside of school. Technically, no one was, but as the Ministry could only detect the location of the magic, most wizarding children got away with practicing over the summer. She had only been able to use a broom as her key to the wizarding world, but she had always been connected over the summer, she used to write on a daily basis to Marlene, Mary, Remus, and eventually James. 

Harry, however, hadn’t received a single letter, and Lily was growing more and more concerned. She knew none of his friends meant to be rude, maybe the Owl’s couldn't get to the Dursleys, or maybe they had been sending them the wrong way? Twelve-year-olds could often misread situations, which left Harry devastated on his birthday. 

“ _ I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” Harry deadpanned.  _

When Harry returned to his bedroom that night, pretending to not exist, a houself was waiting on his bed. 

Lily sighed and turned to James, who had summoned a bag of popcorn and was plopped down on the floor, attentively watching.

“Here we go again.” He said, shrugging. 

“Don’t know why I ever expected that bit of peace to last.”

“It was getting dull, I think this is a far more interesting birthday surprise. Imagine what it’s like for parents with normal children.”

“At least we’re thoroughly captivated,” Lily admitted. It soon became apparent that if the universe had cast down the worst thing possible for the goal of disappearing, this was it. 

Lily jumped in surprise when Dobby started punishing himself for just  _ thinking  _ of speaking ill about his family. 

“ _ Does the family know you’re here?” _

__ _ “Oh no, sir, no... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven.” _

__ Lily whimpered as Dobby described his life at his master's household and the elf started sobbing every time Harry attempted to be kind. She glanced sideways at James, to see he was looking slightly uncomfortable. They had never had a house-elf, in part for the secrecy of the Order, but they hadn’t really needed anything done. However, she knew a household as big as the Potter’s definitely would have one, she had even seen them once. 

“That’s barbaric.” 

“We didn’t treat them like that,” James said hurriedly. “Most elves adore their masters, Sirius said their house-elf was moping for months after his brother died. And we never told our elf to punish himself, he just helped out.”

“Why is not being cruel to those you have  _ enslaved  _ the Gold standard for Wizards? I know it’s normal for you, but you have to think how it looks from a muggle-borns perspective, it's forced labor. If that’s all you knew you would like it too” She knew James didn’t really look down on house-elves, it just had never occurred to him, or the rest of the Wizarding World, that other species weren’t naturally inclined to serve them. 

Lily didn’t say anymore, she knew James would always try on another’s shoes, and just the thought alone would prompt him to think through it. 

“ _ Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger.” _

“Kind of a given,” Lily muttered reluctantly 

“ _ There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts.” _

“ _ What terrible things? Who’s plotting them?” _

Dobby’s eyes widened as Harry tried to figure it out, although Harry demonstrated his typical obliviousness to body language. 

“ _ You-know-who hasn’t got a brother, has he?” _

“You don’t know who Dobby belongs to, do you?”

James shook his head, “And I can think of a good number of families that would treat an elf that way. And since we don’t know who was caught after Voldemort’s disappearance…” 

James suddenly leaned up on the balls of his toes, eyes wide. They had missed some discussion, but Harry had suddenly launched at Dobby. The elf snapped it's fingers and ran down the stairs, Harry flying down after him. Lily gasped as the elf floated Petunia’s pudding over the kitchen counter. It was such a simple thing, really, but for Petunia messing up her house party was playing with fire. 

Over the next few days, Lily’s insides boiled when she saw Petunia, sticking her hand through the door to slide a cold meal towards Harry. Ever since what James and Lily had dubbed “The droppings incident,” (after the pudding, the owl, and the dropped deal), the Dursleys had gone beyond neglectfulness to complete savagery towards Harry. 

Neither of them were nearly as terrified as when Harry faced Voldemort last year, but somehow this was even worse. They were practically starving him, and James was barely keeping it together. He would be allowed to return to Hogwarts, of course, someone would come to check on him, but how much more of this would they have to endure? Lily prayed someone would see this cruelty and take Harry away forever; this was the last straw. 

A bang started Lily, and she jumped up to see the red hair of Ron Weasley staring through the cracks of the window. 

“ _ Stop gibbering. We’ve come to take you home with us.” _

“A FLYING CAR RESCUE? Wicked.” Wish we’d thought of that back in the day.” Lily had heard the story of James’s “daring rescue” of Sirius in fifth year, when Sirius officially ran away. James had simply flown up to the window of Grimmauld Place and used the cloak to climb down the ledge with Sirius. 

Fred and George ripped down the bars on the window climbed through the window to grab Harry’s school things. James was surveying the situation with his self-proclaimed expertise in breaking and entering, and nodded in approval as the twins used Muggle lock picks. Lily’s heart was racing as they raced to throw Harry’s things out, and she started chanting along with James under her breath.

“Go, go, go, go-”

“No! Hedwig!” They heard the owl screech and the voice of Uncle Vernon 

“ _ THAT RUDDY OWL.” _

James was screaming now as if he was one of the Weasleys, miming stepping on the gas of the car. 

“GO FOR IT. KICK HIM. PULL. PULL. PULL. ALL RIGHT STEP ON IT. LET’S GOOO.”

Harry wrenched free of Uncle Vernon’s grip and swung into the car. They soared away, and Lily doubled over laughing at the dumbfounded look on the Dursley’s faces as they stared out the window. 

“ _ See you next Summer!” Harry shouted  _

James pulled Lily’s hand up triumphantly, miming holding a House Cup. This was the kind of thrill James longed for; the daring escape, stolen objects, breakaways with a gang, and a pint-size amount of danger. 

As they pulled into the burrow,“ _ Now, we’ll go upstairs really quietly,” said Fred. “And wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, “Mom look who turned up in the night!” And she’ll be all pleased and no one need ever know we flew the car.” _

__ James and Lily both snorted in disbelief. Lily didn’t know Molly well, but when you grew up with the Prewett’s you would learn to be skeptical about anything. Sure enough, when the boys arrived, Molly Weasley was marching across the yard; hands on her hips. 

“ _ Beds empty! No note! Car Gone! We never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy.” _

__ _ “Perfect Percy,” Fred muttered  _

__ _ “YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY’S BOOK!”  _

“Hey,” exclaimed James, automatically defensive of his favorite students.

“Molly shouldn’t compare her kids like that, they were really brave, rescuing Harry,” Lily said. 

As punishment, Harry joined the Weasleys in de gnoming the garden, which James found fascinating. 

“Gnomes are a real thing? I thought those were just a myth Moony made up, we could have had real fun with those. They’re practically chaos bombs for free.” 

“Honestly, you were really limited with your upper-class background James,” Lily teased. She had discovered soon after going out with him that there were some aspects of Wizarding life James simply hadn’t experienced, coming from such a wealthy background. Apparently overgrown gardens were one of them. 

“ _ He’s back! Dad’s home!” _

Arthur Weasley strode into the house, looking very much like someone you would picture being soft to garden gnomes. 

“ _ Your son’s flew that car to Harry’s house and back last night! _

__ _ “Did you really? Said Mr.Weasley eagerly. “Did it go allright? I-I mean… that was very wrong, boys, very wrong indeed..” _

__ James snorted and grinned at Lily. “Imagine if Harry did that with us.”

Lily shook her head, “Oh you’d steal the car before he would,” she laughed. “I’d be impressed James, it’s just next to you I’d look like Molly.” They both sank to the floor, laughing. 

“It’s the things twelve-year-olds come up with as a solution to their problems,” James wheezed, “Harry hasn’t answered me in a month, let’s steal a car.”

“You know, sometimes I think if we all thought like that, the world might be a lot simpler,” Lily sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments about the pacing of this one! This book might skip some scenes that don't have a big relation to Jily or the plot so it doesn't drag on :) Can't wait for the flying car decision next chapter!! Thanks to everyone who's reading!


	14. A monument stronger than bronze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key moments in Regulus's relationship with his brother and his path to becoming the youngest Death Eater in history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter isn't the happiest so if you're feeling down I'd keep that in mind. I promise this is the last sadder Regulus bit for awhile (I realize it jumps times a lot, a more coherent timeline is in the future) next comes lots of fun scenes on Earth I'm super excited to write (Jily wedding, Harry etc.) Thanks for reading!

Regulus soon decided that getting to know his brother required a lot of digging into the web of feelings surrounding Sirius, which was a rather large emotional exertion for an eighteen-year-old boy. It also required something which Regulus had spent a long time telling himself was useless; considering situations from the perspective of those “lesser,” those unwilling to seize the opportunity. 

_ September 15th, 1973 _

Regulus leaned back on his broom, standing away from the crowd with the other second years. Regulus usually hung around those in the OWL levels, and he had worked hard to prove himself as one of them, but on the Quidditch pitch, all of it was washed away. Most of the older students had tried out in the past, and no one would waste their breath on a second year. He watched as player after player took off and attempted to catch the golf balls being thrown at them. 

While everyone watched, Regulus felt his confidence rising, and was able to pick out the mistakes each of those trying out were making, He was quite good at that, he had discovered, picking out the weaknesses in others. 

Crabbe was too big for the broom, he wasn’t able to jerk enough. Avery was good enough in the air, but couldn’t catch to save his life. Mulciber did decently, but he seemed to be uncomfortable the higher up he got. 

Regulus approached the start of the line and glanced towards the stands. Cissy smiled at him from the stands, Regulus had seen her around a lot more now that Lucius had graduated. Seated next to her was Slughorn, who was watching with a curious look on his face. Regulus glanced at the end of the stands and quickly jerked away, determinedly staring straight ahead. Standing near the bushes was Sirius, shoulder to shoulder with James Potter. He waited for one of them to make a snide remark towards the players, especially since Potter had a history of hexing opposing Quidditch teams. Strangely, both of them kept silent, and Regulus forced himself to clear his mind. He could worry about what his brother was up to later. 

He mounted his broom and rose up with ease, letting the wind flow through his robes as he circled the Quidditch Pitch, just like he had on the Hippogriff. The frigid air sharpened his focus, and Regulus pinned the first ball, shooting towards it. He caught one after another with ease, and came back down, red in the face and grinning. He barely watched during the rest of the tryouts, Regulus knew he had secured the position. 

It was evening by the time they walked back to the castle, and several teammates had come up to Regulus, patting the shoulder of their own teacher. They walked back past the bushes, and Regulus stiffened when he saw Sirius, and he felt the rest of the team sneering behind him. Sirius shrank back slightly, and James Potter glanced at him, before stepping forward, unphased by the block of muscular Slytherins. 

“Nice flying Regulus! The match might even be close this year,” James joked, grinning. 

“Don’t speak to me, blood traitor.” Regulus spat, and kept walking. He glanced back quickly over his shoulder as he reached the castle, eyes wide. Sirius was still standing by the bushes, his eyes wide, all of his usual swagger replaced by concern. Potter was whispering beside him, and Sirius gave a tight-lipped smile before they both turned away. 

Regulus felt a surge of hot anger towards his brother. He didn’t know what Regulus had to do to remove the taint Sirius had put on the Black family name, the whiplash Regulus had gotten from Sirius being the laughing stock of Slytherin. The Slytherin’s had been a tighter knit circle than usual, desperate to pick out any weakness. Regulus had only caught whispers among the older students about the Dark Lord, and Regulus was reminded of three summers ago before Sirius had first gone off to Hogwarts. 

The whole family had been gathered, and everyone was remarking about how proud they were of his cousin Bella. She had been practically gloating and had even pulled Regulus aside. 

“You’re going off to Hogwarts soon aren’t you Regulus?” She leaned down and whispered to him conspiratorially “Don’t expect it to stay this way forever, making you mingle around mudbloods and other filth. We’ll all get rid of them soon enough, and I’ll even let you share some of the scraps if you’re good.” She said the last line with a mad glint in her eyes and Regulus had shrunk back. What was Bella celebrating? He looked around for Sirius to see if he knew, but his brother was off sulking in his room, as he usually did at family events. 

He had asked Narcissa about it after dinner, and she laughed, “No one told you? The Dark Lord officially announced himself, the War’s begun. Bella says it will be an efficient rise to power, but I know Lucius is secretly hoping it will last long enough that he can join. Bella’s one of the youngest one’s ever to become a Death Eater, the Dark Lord must really trust her.” Regulus’s eyes widened; was this war the “time” Walburga was always mentioning? 

Narcissa misread his expression and jostled his hair, “The Dark Lord doesn’t need children Reg. You have to prove your unwavering devotion to the cause, he doesn’t want inadequate followers. I’ll let you know more about it ” She looked thoroughly pleased with herself at knowing these details. 

Once Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor, a blanket of silence had fallen around the household. The idea that there might be spies in their mist made the meetings more secretive, and Regulus was to sit, and listen to what they were telling him and be silent, all of his time focused on becoming a proper heir. Still, what Narcissa had said continued to echo with him, “ _ You have to prove your unwavering devotion to the cause.”  _ He had been doing that all his life with the family, and now the whole household was acting as if he still had to prove his loyalty, all because Sirius went off and defected. 

And now Sirius had the audacity to approach him in front of everyone else? He pushed those thoughts away; he could make it up some other time. But not now. Regulus had just proven himself a true Slytherin. He was the first Black to play on the Quidditch team since his father, Cissy was always good on a broom, but a proper pureblood woman would never compete on a sports team. 

Regulus reached his dorm still red-faced from his time on the pitch. He threw open his trunk and dug out the collection of clippings he had started saving last year. 

“ _ He Who Must Not Be Named officially announces his declarations against the Ministry of Magic.”  _ A few of the clippings were from the Daily Prophet, but most of them were from the  _ Pure-Blood Print,  _ the listing his parents subscribed to, only for members of the sacred twenty-eight. 

“ _ Bridge collapse in Muggle London seen as the first act of violence in the War.”  _ Regulus lay back on his bed, letting the yellow-stained pages lay beside him, thinking of the same line he had read over and over. 

_ “Only the most talented wizards are worthy of the Dark Lord.”  _

**July 24th, 1975**

Regulus was walking down the hall to his room, reading over an owl from Narcissa, when he passed by Sirius’s room. Although Sirius’s room was always messy, it was currently a state of utter chaos. He stepped in, uncomfortable under the glare of the Muggle girls on the wall. Sirius came running up to him, his eyes searching. He shut the door and pulled him inside, and Regulus, in an absolute state of shock at the unhinged site of his brother, let him. 

“Come with me.” Sirius burst out. “Please Reg. Don’t stay here. Please.” 

“What the hell are you on about?” Regulus demanded. He looked from Sirius’s messy trunk back to him and his eyes widened in realization. 

“She’s been poking around in your head, she’s been doing it since you were little. She’s manipulating you Reg.” 

“I know.” Regulus had never found anything odd about his mother’s Legilimency, it was just her way of not letting anyone undermine the Black family’s values. “You can’t just leave.” Sirius would be betraying the family if he left, he would be cast off the tree entirely.  _ But then you’d finally be the heir,  _ said a voice in the back of his mind. 

“Voldemort is evil Reg,” Regulus flinched. How dare he use the Dark Lord’s name? “He’s evil, and you’re going to get into things you don’t understand. I know you aren’t evil, you’re my brother.” Sirius’s voice cracked, “You’re my little brother Regulus, I’m supposed to protect you. But I can’t stay here any longer.”

A flood of memories came back to Regulus. 

_ Sirius stepping in front of him as Walburga went on a tirade, slashing dangerously with her wand.  _

_ Regulus spilling his plate; bending over to clean it up before Mother saw broken China. Sirius had come in, took one look at the mess on the floor, and started loudly talking about a Muggle he’d talked to at the park. Walburga’s eyes had flashed towards him dangerously, forgetting about Regulus altogether.  _

_ Sirius getting sorted and leaving him to take the family name.  _ His brother had already run away from him. 

‘Don’t tell me what I don’t understand,” Regulus ground out. Sirius took one last look at him, reached down, and pressed something into his hand. He stepped back and threw his arms around Regulus’s neck, before stepping back and continuing packing his bag. It would be the last time they hugged while Regulus was still on Earth. 

Regulus sat on his bed in silence, hands still clasped together. He had left his door open, and so heard the tap on the window as Potter came for his brother. He heard the bang of the trunk as Sirius slammed it shut, he saw the two of them fly from the house, luggage tied between the two brooms. Regulus knew he should shout for his mother; stop Sirius from leaving. But instead, he just sat, watching as the two brooms were just dots among the sky like stars. 

Regulus unclasped his hand. Sirius had given him a pocket compass studded with gold. Where directions would have been on a normal compass, Regulus recognized immediately from the Black family’s heritage. The bronze hand was pointing directly at the star in the center of the constellation Leo; Regulus. The other was pointed to the brightest star in the night sky, one Regulus would have been able to pick out anywhere; Sirius. The third hand did not point to a star, but to the dot on the horizon where Regulus had just seen his brother fly off, so they’d always be connected Engraved in between the hands pointing to the two of them was a simple phrase which Regulus recognized immediately. 

_ Aere Perennius _

__ _ A monument more lasting than Bronze.  _

↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪↪

In the afterlife, Regulus took the watch out of his pocket. He had carried it with him always, never bringing himself to take it out. The hand that showed Sirius’s location was pointing to the veil, the other two hands were spinning wildly, unable to locate their targets. Regulus looked up. There were no stars in this afterlife, just endless walls. 

He glanced back down at the watch, at the inscription claiming their bond was more than any bronze or words could divide. He had seen a side of his brother that he didn’t show to many other people, the side that wasn’t too cool for the world. It struck him that Sirius had chosen a quote from Ancient Rome, one a Muggle likely first uttered. A phrase that had lasted thousands of years. Maybe they could last between death. 

↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

_ August 15th, 1977  _

Regulus stared into the empty eyes of Valentina Bones. He trembled, gasping his wand tightly to keep it from dropping. It wasn’t supposed to have gone like this, it was supposed to be simple, really, his last task to prove himself to the Dark Lord. He needed to place the head of St.Mungos under the Imperius curse, and he hadn’t expected her to be quite so quick after he disarmed her, pulling out a firecracker, leaving Regulus seeing spots. In his panic, he’d struck out with his wand sending a jet of green light at her chest. 

When the dust had cleared, Regulus had been left with her lifeless body, forever staring up at him. He knew the Dark Lord wouldn’t mind, he had always instructed that if the subject resisted the Imperius curse, they were to finish them off, and it was one less mudblood in the world anyway. Regulus bit down on his tongue hard and willed himself to keep moving, vanishing the woman's limp body. Regulus ran out of the house, his breath coming out in misty puffs. He sank to his knees and cried out with as much strength as he could muster 

“ _ Morsmordre”  _ For the first time in his life, the green face burst out of his wand, hovering over the house. 

Bellatrix was waiting for him as he walked down the street, laughing gleefully at the mark above the house. Regulus wiped his forehead and forced his face into one of cold indifference. 

“Well, well, well Regulus darling, I must say that was absolutely splendid work. I didn’t even think you had it in you, but the Dark Lord will be most pleased with us. Most pleased indeed.” Regulus swallowed and grabbed Bellatrix’s arm, wanting to leave the scene as quickly as possible. 

They Apparated into an unfamiliar stone room. Hooded figures were seated at a stone table and Regulus gasped when he saw the figure seated at the head of the room. Regulus walked forward three paces and bowed, and looked back up into the slitted eyes of Lord Voldemort. Regulus’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t surprised. The face staring back at him may have once been quite handsome, but seemed as if it were permanently masked, the features blurred into slits. Why would the Dark Lord look human when he saw so much more than all of them? 

“Regulus Arcturus Black,” The voice hissed 

“My Lord.” 

“Were the tasks completed as I required?” Regulus opened his mouth to answer but paused as he felt a familiar scratching at the back of his head. The Dark Lord already knew, he had likely been looking in his head since the moment he walked in the door. Regulus imagined a door slamming shut on top of his thoughts, using a technique he had learned from years with Walburga, and the scratching disappeared. Voldemort nodded in approval. Regulus knew he could poke further, but was just using the opportunity to make a point: He knew all that went on. 

“It is time,” Voldermort whispered. 

“Truly My Lord, you think my cousin is ready?” Bellatrix breathed. 

Voldemort jerked his head back, and Regulus felt his legs moving him forward. He held out his arm, and felt Voldemort’s cold hand close around his wrist. Voldemort ran a ragged nail over his forearm and pressed down with his wand. 

All at once, jolts of searing pain erupted through Regulus’s body. He grimaced, forcing himself not to scream, but to continue looking his master in the eye. He gave himself into the pain of it all, reveled in it, letting it flow through him. After what felt like an eternity, Voldemort pulled his wand away, and the throbbing congregated into a single spot on his forearm. Etched where the wand had been moments ago was the Dark Mark. 

Voldemort stood up and placed his wand to Regulus’s chest. He flicked it once and Regulus felt as if a cord snapped. 

“The trace has been removed, Regulus,” Voldemort hissed. “Return to school, it will be necessary to have an eye at Hogwarts until I notify you otherwise. Bellatrix, I trust you to use the boy as you see fit until then?” 

Bellatrix nodded eagerly, pleased at being given the responsibility of managing the Dark Lord’s lesser followers. 

Bellatrix came calling a week later. Orion and Walburga had thrown a family gathering to celebrate Regulus officially becoming a Death Eater (the youngest member ever to join the ranks.) After dinner, Bellatrix grabbed his arm tightly, 

“You’re to join us for some fun tonight Regulus.” He nodded. He wasn’t sure what Bella meant by fun, they were meant to serve the Dark Lord and the greater cause, not just causing torment that didn’t work towards their goal. 

Regulus didn’t understand what Bella meant by “fun” until the stench of pollution filled his nostrils. He had gotten less queasy after side along Apparation lately, but it still took him a minute to recognize his surroundings. London Bridge. 

“Oh.” He said out loud as other masked Death Eaters appeared alongside him. 

“It’s quite poetic isn’t it?” Bellatrix cooed beside him. “ _ London Bridge is falling down, falling , down, falling down,”  _ she sang to herself. A voice filled his head that he recognized as Lucius Malfoy, instructing him on what to do. 

Regulus raised his wand, preparing to summon a wave over the bridge. This was the easy part, he told himself, the true purpose was not just to cause terror, but to lure the entire Order out. Bellatrix had gleefully volunteered for hostage duty and was now levitating cars that the others had knocked off of the bridge, lifting limp bodies into the air. 

The city was in utter chaos, muggle policemen had desperately tried to retrieve a few of the cars stuck on the bridge, only to be thrown into the murky waters of the Thames. Regulus saw Avery gesture towards the bridge where a group of robed wizards had just appeared. They had circled Bellatrix and Goyle in an attempt to free the Muggles. 

Avery grabbed his arm and they appeared behind the line. Someone barked

“ _ Watch out!”  _ A second before Regulus was able to cast a spell. The wizards ducked and spun, and Regulus rolled to the floor to avoid a jet of red light. He felt his mask slip off, clattering to the ground. He sliced out with his wand and saw the figure above him jump away. Regulus got to his feet, searching for his mask when he noticed the man was staring at him, everything else forgotten. 

“Sirius?” 

At the same time, “Reg-” What was Sirius doing here? The Order must be really dwindling, Regulus thought with glee if they were letting eighteen-year-olds fight. They were normally so _brave_ and _valiant,_ always acting as if they were the stronger ones when in reality the Order never had the strength to do what was needed. He must have gotten better at dueling in the years since Regulus had last spoken to him, dodging curses that easily. 

Regulus Apparated away, leaving behind his brother's still shocked face. 

↪↪↪↪↪

Regulus looked back at his forearm. He had hoped in the afterlife the mark might fade, if his last minute choices had affected how he would appear up here. But the mark still burned on his arm, although faded. It would be something he would always have, that had always been part of Regulus’s life.


	15. The Flying Car

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Ron fly the car to Hogwarts, crashing into the Whomping Willow. 
> 
> This chapter and the next one were so fun to write, it will pick up the pace a bit from here

The summer seemed to fly by in an instant now that Harry was at the Burrow, and James was reminded fondly of whenever Sirius went to stay with James’s family; the days spent playing Quidditch in the yard, dressing up as Muggle’s and looking at motorcycles. 

Harry and the Weasleys were gathered around the fireplace, about to travel by Floo Powder. James saw Lily’s eyes widen beside him, intrigued, and he grinned. 

. “I used to intentionally mess it up and end up in Knockturn Alley. Of course, Padfoot knew his way around, but it was always a good laugh to sneak around in there under the cloak.” 

Harry stepped into the fireplace. “D-Dia-gon Alley,” he coughed. 

“How- how did he mess up saying the word Diagon Alley?”

“Wicked. With any other child you’d think it had been on purpose, but our Harry?”

They watched as Harry fell face forward onto the cold stone, throwing up his bacon sandwiches. James grunted as if he was watching a Quidditch match, and one of his favorite players had taken a particularly nasty fall. 

Harry exited the fireplace, covered in soot. 

“Oh! That’s Borgin and Burkes.” James said, and paused at the amused look on Lily’s face. “Hey, I only went in once, you know I hate the Dark Arts. Pads and I saw Severus with a bag full of vials and wanted to keep an eye out. It’s not a surprise to see the Malfoy’s there. You remember Lucius right Lily? Bloody prefect gave Sirius almost half his detentions while he was there.” Lily sneered at the veil beside him, and James knew she was enraged the Malfoys hadn’t been punished after the First War. They both knew the Malfoys were at least in the circle of Voldemort, as Sirius’s cousin Narcissa was Lucius’s wife, but if they could have picked anyone in the world to know the fate of, it would not be them. James was dying to hear something about Sirius or Peter or even a mention of the Black family, but it was as if they had been erased. Harry ducked out of the shop quickly, and staggered along the street, before running into Hagrid. 

James watched longingly as Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked together through the streets of Diagon Alley, slurping strawberry and peanut butter ice creams and walked into Flourish and Botts. The most infuriating thing about this section of the afterlife was the inability to summon any food besides popcorn (which was considered necessary for facing the terrors of the living world). Lily nudged him and pointed to a banner on the window. 

_ Gilderoy Lockhart  _

__ _ will be signing copies of his autobiography  _

__ __ __ _ MAGICAL ME  _

__ _ Today 12:30-4:30 PM _

“Wasn’t Lockhart the fourth year who made the Great Hall evacuate after he sent himself eight hundred Valentine’s cards one year? 

“I don’t know about that, but he carved his name onto the Quidditch pitch once. Made me want to puke every time I saw the defamation.” James knew it was a tad hypocritical given his school years, but he had never liked the Ravenclaw seeker, who skipped right over mischief into arrogant attention seeking. James would never have shot his  _ own  _ face into the sky, he’d at least make a big show of doing it for Sirius. 

“He showed up to a study group the prefects did one time for underclassmen,” Lily said, “And then tried to correct Remus on the ways to identify a werewolf. I don’t see him writing the whole school list, but who knows? Some people will do anything for a bit of fame.”

Although many people had matured from their school days, as Lockhart strode out in outlandish robes, and practically shoved Harry in front of the crowd. 

“ _ Nice big smile, Harry, together you and I are worth the front page.”  _ Harry looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world, and James didn’t blame him, he wouldn’t want to be shaking Lockhart’s hand either.  __ Harry was eventually released, his glasses hanging on the edge of his nose and staggering under the weight of a giant pile of books. Harry dumped them in Ginny’s cauldron before the little shit Malfoy walked over.

“ _ Leave him alone, he didn’t want all that,”  _ said Ginny. The youngest Weasley seemed to be infatuated with Harry, and seemed to lose her voice every time he approached. It was rather like what James may have been like around Lily if he hadn’t had what Lily dubbed “The pure masculine audacity.” It was interesting for James, both realizing his teenage years were his peak and being extremely embarrassed of them. Besides, the girl liked his son and rather resembled Lily, which would make for a very interesting pairing. 

“Maybe you’ll finally get red-haired grandchildren Lily,” James joked. 

As it would have been the height of hypocrisy to judge a kid when he only saw them around their crush, James held off his final judgment on Ginny Weasley.

Lucius Malfoy, being a prodigious git, as usual, came striding up to the Weasley’s and Granger’s. 

“ _ Dear me, what’s the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don’t even pay you well for it?” _

“He did not,” Lily gasped.

“ _ The company you keep, Weasley.. and I thought your family could sink no lower-”  _

“Oh!” Lily shrieked, as Arthur charged into Lucius, knocking him into a bookcase. 

“Get him, get in there, beat that little git,” James shouted, knocking his fists together. This was much more fun when Harry was observing a fight, as opposed to having to watch as a Father. James yearned to jump into the action, but soon the fight was broken up, leaving Arthur with a broken lip. 

“That was wicked. Want fights must be boring from an outsider's perspective, of course, when you’re in the fray trying to dodge literal death beams its different, but really you’re just muttering words with sticks-”

Lily was frowning to herself, “I wonder why he picked that fight in such a public space. He’s obviously an actual neo-nazi but he cares enough about his reputation to not get into brawls in a bookstore. You saw how he was berating Draco about picking on Hermione earlier.” 

James knelt down beside him, eyebrows lowered, “I heard stories about Sirius’s family enough to know that that type of wizard just reacts based on hatred. I don’t even know if they see sense, but it is suspicious.” Lily had a knack for picking things up others didn’t, and James.. well they had established Harry got his obliviousness somewhere. 

__ The next few days passed in a blur, and James and Lily were bustling with excitement over Harry’s imminent return to Hogwarts. They watched as Percy, Mr.Weasley, Fred, George, and finally, Mrs.Weasley and Ginny went through the barrier to the platform. 

“Here we go-” Lily sang as Harry and Ron ran at the barrier. 

_ CRASH.  _

They both jumped up as both trolleys hit the truck and bounced backward. 

“ _ Why can’t we get through?” _

Lily cocked her head to the side, “The platform doesn’t shut off after the trains left, right?” 

“It can’t have,” James said, “look at the clock there is still 3 seconds.” They both watched in silence as the clock chimed eleven o clock sharp. “Typical,” James muttered. “It’s always going to be those two.”

“Well, they’ll just have to send Hedwig up to school, and they’ll have a very interesting story for their arrival,” Lily said. 

“Umm about that-” James said. 

“They’re not sending the owl are they,” Lily sighed. 

“Nope,” James laughed, “Not at all,” He bit his lip, his cheekbones sucked in to stop himself from cackling. 

“ _ We can fly the car to Hogwarts” _

__ _ “ _ They’re not- No- Not even you would be that reckless.”

James couldn’t contain himself any longer. “I  _ know.  _ I LOVE IT. THE AUDACITY TO FLY A CAR TO SCHOOL.”

The two of them were in the air, flying invisible over Muggle London. James was panting with excitement, prancing around like a Stag. The car flickered, turning visible right over Muggle London. 

“Oh shit! They just flew a car! Right over London!” Lily gasped. Ron and Harry soared through the clouds, laughing and holding their ribs as they watched the train below them. 

James and Lily both sat down, James still grinning, and Lily leaned onto his shoulder. 

“I know how I should feel about this from a mothering standpoint,” Lily said. “That was one of the most idiotic, reckless things Harry’s ever done. Risking Arthur’s job, being seen, not to mention the fact that their  _ twelve  _ and are going to be in so much trouble, if their not expelled-”

“But-” James finished for her

“That was really fucking awesome.” They both collapsed into each other giggling as their son prepared for the most dramatic entrance of his life. 

“Do you remember when Padfoot and I got stopped by the police,” James wheezed, “For speeding on the motorcycle.” 

“More than once, if I remember correctly,” Lily said. 

“Yes, well it was really quite stupid, we’re wizards, we don’t need helmets.” Lily sputtered, but James continued, already on a roll. “So you heard all about the first time, how we got away by lifting the police cars. But then some stuck up ministry bloke cited us for reckless magic usage in front of Muggles”

“Because you  _ literally  _ destroyed a police car, James.” 

“Anyways, the second time, we were a bit tipsy and just let them arrest us, we were very chivalrous and composed about the entire thing. Sirius almost called you to bail us out but I would have died before I let you see me hungover in a Muggle jail cell.”

“You were very upset about the whole thing if I seem to remember,” Lily said 

“Jail was much more traumatizing than I expected, ok. I only cried a little bit.” Lily snorted incredulously. “So in walks Remus here to bust us out of Muggle jail, and mind you this was a few days after a full moon so the man looks like he just walked out of a detention center. And he says, “Sorry about that, they’re not quite right in the head, they seem to think they’ve got magic powers.” And then on the way out, he asked if he could return us at any point.”

“And then my mom saw right through us because she has that sixth mother sense somehow,” and we got grounded for a week, “ _ As Seventeen Year Old Wizards.  _ Which I believe was worse than Muggle jail, and a very dramatic misuse of transportation.’

“James, I’m sorry love, but nothing will ever compare to flying a car to Hogwarts. That will go down in history as one of the rashest decisions in the history of the Potter’s.” Lily strode up and pulled out the old tally sheet, adding a whole column to James’s side while shaking her head. 

“LILY IT’S ABOUT TO GET MORE DRAMATIC!” James shouted. Lily came rushing over. The car was sputtering, losing steam a mile over the school.

“Are they going to land in the lake?”

“ _ MIND THAT TREE”  _

“Nope. They’re going for the Whomping Willow. Of all the places.” They landed in the tree with a start and were thrown to the ground, the car bouncing before settling on a patch of land just by the castle wall. 

“Oh no, oh no, get away, get away” With a crash the branch slammed into the side of the car, sending Harry and Ron flying. The windscreen was being berated by an onslaught of twigs, and Ron’s attempts to scream “STOP!” with his wand were accomplishing nothing.

“ _ Reverse”  _ Harry shouted, and the car shot back from the tree. James’s heart was pounding, his mouth hanging wide open. 

“Wicked,” was all he breathed, as the boys staggered back. 

The boys staggered up to the Great Hall. 

“ _ Where’s Snape?” Harry asked.  _

__ _ “Maybe he’s ill!” _

__ _ “Maybe he’s left. Because he missed out on the Defence Against the Dark Arts job again.” _

_ “Or he might have been sacked! I mean, everyone hates him-” _

__ “Oh-” Lily cringed, the two of them seeing Snape just before Ron and Harry. 

“ _ Or maybe, he’s waiting to hear why you two didn’t arrive on the school train.” _

James sucked in a breath. “They kind of had that coming, didn’t they. The comedic timing just lined up perfectly for it.”

_ “I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow.”  _

__ James sputtered, “So  _ now  _ he cares about that tree. He would have gladly chopped that thing down in a second to expose Remus, but now its got value since it almost killed my son?”

Snape returned a few minutes later followed by Professor McGonagall. He had very rarely seen her this angry, only after their mischief had bordered on dangerous. 

“Oh poor Minerva,” James said. “She was just starting to think “Oh wow, this is a sweet, innocent boy who just accidentally stumbles into trouble.” Maybe he takes after Lily.”

“Welp she’s changed her mind now,” Lily said. “That’s what we get for giving him your middle name. Harry James Potter, the oblivious king of accidental dramatic situations.”

“ _ Explain.”  _

Ron gave a stuttered attempt at explaining why they decided to fly the car, reminding James of trying to explain to Professor McGonagall why they really actually  _ needed  _ firewhisky from the kitchens at 3 am on a Tuesday night. 

“ _ So we had no choice, Professor, we couldn’t get on the train.” _

__ _ “Why didn’t you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl, Potter.” _

Harry gaped at her, “ _ I- I didn’t think-” _

__ “ _ That,” said Professor McGonagall, “is obvious.” _

James knew the boys weren’t in any real danger of being expelled, and he was more and more impressed the more he thought about what they’d done. Flying the car into the Whomping Willow really topped off the story, and the fact that the teachers were obviously trying to hide that it happened, would make the story even more notorious. 

“ _ And speaking of Gryffindor-” _

__ _ “Professor, when we took the car, term hadn’t started so- so Gryffindor shouldn’t really have points taken from it, should it?” _

James grinned as McGonagall gave a tight-lipped smile, and Lily sighed, smiling into his shoulder.


	16. Harry Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regulus watches the Jily wedding, the entrance of Harry James Potter, and fun times with Sirius as godfather 
> 
> This chapter was so fun to write, and it was nice getting to write a happy Reg one

**September 1st, 1979**

Regulus flicked back on the veil and was surprised to see Sirius standing in front of a mirror in formal dress robes, fidgeting with his collar. He slicked back his hair and pulled out a stack of index cards from his pocket. A knock on the door and Sirius tucked the cards back into his pocket. 

Remus Lupin entered and whistled at Sirius. “Damn. I haven’t seen you dressed so formally in ages. You look-regal.” Lupin was dressed in shiny new dress robes, as opposed to the shabby clothing Regulus had seen him wearing around Sirius. What was the occasion? 

Sirius grinned, and there was an awkward silence. “What if I mess up?” Sirius burst out suddenly in a low voice. 

“Just don’t think about it, stick to what feels right. Just use your natural Sirius Black charm,” Remus said.

“What if it comes off wrong?” Sirius asked. 

“Sirius, your mouth is a literal waterfall, and James has never been uncomfortable around you in his life, no matter what you say or do. You two just get each other. Remember you're not writing for the crowd, who gives a shit about them, it’s not their wedding, you’re speaking for James and Lily.” Regulus blinked, James Potter and Lily Evans were getting married? He hadn’t paid much attention to any of the relationships around Hogwarts after his fifth year, he didn’t want to get caught up in that drama. He did seem to remember a day in his fourth year when Snape had been shut out of the Slytherin common room at night after camping outside the Gryffindor dorm. They were both Head Boy and Girl in his sixth year, but Regulus hadn’t been in tune with Hogwarts that year. Simple school rules were beneath him, he was serving the Dark Lord. 

“Thank the lord I’m not speaking, I’d make a true stuttering fool of myself.”

“Actually, about that-” Sirius smiled slyly and passed him a card. Lupin groaned.

Regulus watched the service, captivated. Although it was a small ceremony, there was so much joy bubbling underneath the tent. Regulus hadn’t seen anything like it before at the House of Black. Weddings were predominantly a union of power, and formality was stressed over anything else. Once he joined the Death Eaters, all superfluous events were forgotten until the war was won. How could you have a wedding during a war? Maybe they needed it, needed each other to get through it. 

You could not deny a lack of love from anyone in the tent, gazing affectionately at James and Lily as they took the floor for their first dance. They were both so  _ young.  _ Was that really how Regulus himself looked? He was only eighteen, James and Lily were barely twenty, but they all had been forced to act much older. James took Lily in his arms, and they both danced to what Regulus assumed was a Muggle song. James was staring into Lily’s eyes, looking as if he still couldn’t believe his luck. 

_ At last _

_ My love has come along _

_ My lonely days are over _

_ And life is like a song _

The tent broke into applause, and Regulus noticed an older couple at the side of the tent crying. Sirius stood up and took the stage, pausing to kiss Lily on the cheek as he went.

“So, I, like a lot of you, never thought I’d be here today,” Sirius said. “ At my dear friends Lily Evans and James Potter’s wedding. I don’t think Lily’s still wrapped her head around it either, which is why this wedding was planned by James’s fifteen-year-old self. 

Unfortunately, his original sketches had the giant squid officiating over the ceremony, although he was tragically occupied waiting for Evans to call in their date.

Frankly, this wedding seemed less likely than Minnie finally accepting my invitation to the Yule Ball. Which, I get it, would have made things a little awkward, as she was clearly already going out with Moony behind my back.” Sirius smirked at Professor McGonagall, who was shaking her head but clearly amused. 

“So now we come to the question I know you are all wondering. How did James “Oi Evans” Potter finally get the girl? How did exactly 329 attempts to ask Evans out finally pay off? For that, I think some thanks are in order. 

First off, I would like to thank Dirk Cresswell for lowering Lily’s standards in fifth year to the point where she saw James as potential boyfriend material.” The audience oohed at Cresswell, who had gone bright red. 

“I’m just joking with you Dirk, we really have to thank Albus Dumbledore for being the biggest Jily shipper of them all. Making James Head Boy with Lily? A necessary move, we applaud you.

I’d also like to thank Professor Slughorn for the Amorentia partnership, you knew what you were doing there, and it was truly a genius move. When Lily claimed loudly “She couldn’t even smell the potion over James’s nonexistent cologne.” Immaculate.” 

And of course, we have to extend thanks to the marvelous Euphemia Potter, for raising a son that knows how to cook a good meal for his girlfriend.

Finally, I’d like to thank Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Mary Macdonald, and Marlene Mckinnon,” Sirius glanced around at his fellow bridesmaids and groomsmen, “For keeping a detailed score of every time James asked Evans out, which we will now present the highlights of.”

Remus read off of a card “On February 14th, 1976, when James enchanted the chandeliers to drop Lily’s, however, got a little mixed up on the Transfiguration, leading to Petunia’s being dropped from the sky instead, which Lily happened to be deathly allergic to. Not one of your greatest moments Prongs,” Remus paused before continuing, “But the effort was very endeering, and I’m sure she was secretly  _ fawn _ ing over James after this incident.” 

Mary took the next card, “In all seriousness doe, a lot of times James’s deerling proposals,” Mary pursed her lips and looked at Sirius quizzically, who shrugged, shaking with laughter. “Were very sweet, including the choreographed broomstick routines we were often forced to take part in, and the absolutely dreadful poetry that was about, yes, lilies. 

Sirius took back the microphone, clearing his throat “Today marks nine years since these two lovebirds first laid eyes on each other, sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts express. It definitely wasn’t a romantic first greeting, but it would kickstart years of what was soon dubbed the “Jily drama.” And I’ll be the first to admit, it’s been a trying few years. It’s why we can’t be joined by so many of our friends and family for this occasion. However, through all this darkness you two have found something beautiful and managed to share it here with everyone. Let us not push aside all that we have lost and endured through this war because it makes this union even more spectacular.” Regulus had always known his brother had a way with words, but Sirius had always shied away from talking too deep, he loved to pretend he was too above those emotions. Regulus suddenly felt a rush of affection towards James Potter, the man he had once despised as the man who had turned Sirius, for protecting his brother. 

“ I didn’t believe in soulmates, James until I met the two of you. Because through all of the drama and disagreements through the years, I’ve never met two people more made for each other. James, you’ve been a brother to me since day one at Hogwarts, and I could never imagine being best friends with anyone else. Lily, when I say you make James even brighter, it’s the best compliment I could ever give. You are two of the strongest people I know, and you will both come together over all of this, and share a greater than anything I’ve ever seen.

There was a pause, and Sirius grinned, switching back into his laid-back, punk self. “That’s enough sentimentality for now, who’s ready to cut the cake.” He held his hand up as if trying to get a chant from the crowd, but Lily burst forward, throwing her eyes around him and cutting him off. There were tears streaming down James’s face, and he wrapped his arms around the both of them. 

**July 31st, 1980**

“Uno.” Sirius called out.   


“Sirius, you just put down a red on top of a green. And you dropped your entire pile on the floor,” Peter sighed. “Play the correct card.”

Sirius had barely kept his eyes off the door to the hospital room in hours, waiting excitedly for the birth of James and Lily’s child. 

“Let’s put it up for now Pete,” Remus sighed, also glancing nervously towards the door. Regulus found himself intrigued by the idea of a child, he had never seen a birth himself or grown up around children, being the baby of the family. 

The door creaked open, and all three boys jumped up as James Potter slid out, red-eyed and beaming as if God himself had led him to the Gates of Eden. James walked forward in a daze, gripping Sirius’s arm and turning to each of the three boys. 

“Harry. Harry James Potter,” he whispered, cheeks still locked in a grin. 

“Can I come in?” Sirius burst out eagerly. 

“We’ll wait out here,” Remus said to Peter, “Give them a minute.”

Sirius slid into the room, grinning expectantly

“Aww! Look at the little Prongslet. We have so much to teach you, the heir to all our glory. Can I hold him?” Sirius whispered. 

Lily wrapped the boy up in her blankets, passing him to Sirius. Sirius grabbed the bundle gingerly, rocking him in his arms. 

“He looks so much like you Lily,” James whispered. “He’s just so beautiful.”

“He’s ten minutes old James, he looks more like a shriveled mushroom than either of us,” Lily sighed affectionately. 

“Look at his eyes,” James said. “He has your eyes.” 

Sirius passed Harry back to Lily who took him in her arms, whispering under her breath. James sat down next to her, stroking Harry’s forehead gently, and Sirius sat down on the edge of the bed, tears in his eyes. 

“You’ll be godfather, of course,” Lily said. Sirius looked up, his mouth hanging slightly open.

“I- couldn’t, it’s just-he’s so beautiful.” Regulus was shocked, Sirius had always been repulsed by baby’s, he referred to them as “slimy nuggets,” and maintained that he himself was never a toddler. However, Sirius seemed to change his mind once his best friend had announced they were having a child, going out and buying an entire wardrobe nine months early. Sirius had even sat in on a wizard parenting class with Lily and James, which brought odd glances from the instructor. 

“You’ll be amazing, Padfoot. I trust you with my life.” James said firmly. The three of them sat together, joining hands, and Regulus felt as if he was intruding on one of the few moments of calm in their lives. 

**Jun 1st, 1981**

The first few months flew by in wonder. Regulus still got a pit in his stomach whenever Sirius left for an Order mission, wondering if he would see him stepping through the veil after a particularly rough skirmish with Death Eaters. 

Regulus managed to summon the courage to visit a few of his other family members. Andromeda had an eight-year-old daughter, who frequently changed her appearance and caused a ruckus with the muggles in their town. He had never been particularly close to Andromeda as they had never been at school together, but Sirius had clung to her at family gatherings. 

Narcissa had a one-year-old son, Draco, that she obviously adored. Regulus was pleased to hear this, Cissy always wanted to start a family. 

He still felt his time predominantly watching Sirius, who had jumped into his role of godfather wholeheartedly. It was odd for Regulus, seeing the man that he had been told was messed up in so many ways be able to love so strongly. 

Sirius was flying over London, stopping at the Potter’s mansion. He stepped onto the porch and the door burst open immediately to reveal a beaming James Potter. 

“Prongs!” Sirius shouted. He ran inside, tackling James to the ground. The two of them rolled on the floor, clapping each other on the back. 

Lily came running downstairs, holding Harry in her arms. 

“What’s the ruckus? Oh honestly, you two have been apart for twelve hours and act like it's been ages,” Lily laughed. Sirius jumped up and ran over to give Lily a kiss on the cheek. Regulus had seen a lot of Harry recently, as they all liked to stay together during the war.

“And how is the Lady Prongs?” Lily opened her mouth to answer, but Sirius had already reached his arms out, motioning for Harry. “Hey, bud. How’s my godson?”

Harry cooed and reached his arms out for Sirius, who held him to his chest. 

“Un-kul Puh-Puh- Pad-foot,” Sirius mouthed at Harry, who responded with one of his favorite activities, wrapping a fist around Sirius’s hair and yanking. 

“Sirius, you know he’s not due to start talking for another month at least,” Lily said. “And his first word is sure to be Mommy.”

“Harry, say Da-da. You got it. Da-da,” said James, holding out a piece of cheese. Harry detangled his fingers from Sirius’s hair and stuck the cheese in his mouth, spitting yellow globs all over his chin and still refusing to say either adult's name. 

“Nah, he’ll come on early, he stood up a month early!” Sirius exclaimed confidently. “And his first word will definitely be Padfoot.” 

“We’ll see about that.”

Regulus sat down, letting his hands rest under his face. He ached to be on Earth, to experience this warmth for the first time. He knew though, he didn’t belong in situations like these, didn’t deserve to laugh like this. He had never joked with his family like Lily and James did, it was considered immature. 

How could something that he wanted so desperately be wrong if it brought his brother this happiness? 

“Pads,m would you mind watching Harry for the night? Lily and I really need a break.” James yawned, collapsing on the sofa. 

Sirius grinned, “Of course. What else is being the cool Uncle for?”

Ten minutes later, James and Lily were out the door and Sirius held Harry propped up on the kitchen counter. Harry was wearing a bright red and yellow onesie, embroidered with the Gryffindor logo, and was sobbing hysterically, reaching over Sirius’s shoulder to where his mother was hopping in the car. 

“Good luck,” James mouthed to him. 

Harry continued crying for a few more minutes but fortunately stopped when presented with the buttons on Sirius’s jacket, which he promptly put in his mouth. 

“Now my little Marauderlette, I know your Mom means well, but I really think we need to upgrade your fashion sense,” Sirius crouched down on his knees and looked Harry dead in the eye. Harry clapped his hands together and Sirius pulled a leather jacket out of his bag that was clearly meant for someone several years older. Sirius unbuttoned Harry’s onesie slightly awkwardly and gagged at the smell of his diaper. The two of them stared at each other for a second.

“This is going to be a bit of a deal-breaker, Buddy. Don’t tell your Mom.” Sirius waved his wand and the old diaper was replaced with a crisply folded new one. 

A minute later Harry was wrapped in an oversized leather jacket, which fitted more like a robe than anything else. 

“Ok Prongslet, that’s really adorable,” Sirius said, and even Regulus had to admit it was cute, the baby’s messy hair sticking up in all directions. “But I already bought the pants.” Sirius waved his wand and the jacket and leather pants shrunk to Harry’s size. 

“There we go,” Sirius muttered, pulling out a glob of hair gel. He plopped a glop onto Harry’s head and seemed to be attempting to slick it back like his own, but the hair remained sticking up straight. Sirius tried for several more minutes, before resigning to the fact that Harry’s hair wasn’t going to move. “Don’t know what else I expected Henry, James could never straighten his.” Sirius, apparently peeved that Harry didn’t stand for anything (as if the Black names were at all practical) had been trying out various nicknames to see if anything would stick. 

Sirius finished the look by lacing a pair of mini Doc Martens around Harry’s feet and setting him on the floor. Sirius scooped up a very confused Harry and sat him on his motorcycle, taking pictures with his Polaroid. 

“You ready to go for a ride?” Sirius asked, buckling Harry into the sidecar of the bike. He revved the motorcycle and Harry screamed in anticipation, clapping his hands together. Sirius took off into the air, flying over the bright lights of London. Harry cooed, his whole face beaming. 

“You’re going to make a mighty Quidditch player someday Harry,” Sirius laughed and shot the car into the clouds. The two of them circled the air for another hour before Sirius shot back to the Potter mansion. As they drew closer, Regulus could just make out three figures standing on the ground. 

Lily was standing on the ground, waving her arms up frantically as they approached. James was gesturing angrily at Dumbledore, who looked grave. 

They both came running up as soon as the bike touched down, Lily going straight for Harry, holding him to her chest. Neither seemed to notice the clothes, they both seemed to be forming a wall around their son. 

Lily kissed Harry’s forehead, “Oh thank God you’re safe, I was so worried.”

“I’m guessing you never made it to dinner?” Sirius asked. 

James grabbed his arm, looking pale. “You should probably come inside.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope the babysitting scene does you justice @like_sands_of_time (hopefully a bit more to come before everything comes down)


	17. The Chamber of Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.

Lily remembered clearly the first time she admitted to herself that maybe, just maybe, she found James Potter’s antics a little amusing. James was used to getting the same celebrity treatment Harry was now experiencing after the car incident. Harry was celebrated by everyone in the common room except Hermione, who made her disapproval very clear. 

The next day at breakfast, Lily could barely hear the conversation over James, who was still muttering under his breath. 

“Brilliant, absolutely inspired. Way to continue our legacy-”

“Shh, I can’t hear them reading the mail” They both looked up as a bright red package was dropped in front of Ron Weasley. 

“Don’t think that will be a problem,” James said. 

“ _ STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY’D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER’S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK,”  _

“Come on, if I’d sent a Howler it would just be a congratulatory message for that inspiring stunt.”

“Oh no you wouldn’t,” Lily said. Lily remembered the countless half-hearted Howler’s James used to get, most of which he opened loudly in front of the Great Hall, bowing for dramatic effect. They had stopped coming after James had broken the record for detentions in fourth year, the Potter’s seemed to realize public humiliation had absolutely no effect on their son. 

After they had gotten over the initial embarrassment of the Howler, the lessons seemed to dive back into full speed, and Lily felt herself reminiscing again about her school years. In Transfiguration, the boys were supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, and Lily was dismayed at the sparks flying out of Ron’s wand.

“They’re letting him do magic with a broken wand?” She exclaimed, “Professor McGonagall knows how hazardous that is!” Lily felt her maternal protectiveness kicking in, knowing the students shouldn’t be around something frankly dangerous, any of the spells could easily backfire. Proving her point, the wand suddenly let off a volley of firecrackers, causing them both to jump. 

Harry’s new attention seemed to be amplified by several things; the car, Lockhart telling him he  _ wasn’t  _ famous, and having younger students admiring him. For James, this would have been a recipe for a perfect storm, but Harry had always been uneasy with his own fame. 

“ _ All right, Harry? I’m-I’m Colin Creevey,”  _ Said a small, mousy haired boy who had cornered Harry in the courtyard, “ _ I’m in Gryffindor, too. D’you think - would it be all right if- can I have a picture?” _

__ _ “A picture?” Harry repeated blankly.  _

__ _ “So I could prove I’ve met you, and then could you sign it?”  _

__ “Oh, poor kid,” said Lily“The boy’s so new to magic I bet he doesn’t quite see everyone as real people yet, he’s just so overwhelmed. You’d have taken him right under your wing, made him worship you even further James,” She laughed. 

“Yeah, guess I did,” James muttered, staring off into the distance. Lily realized immediately where his thoughts had gone. 

“Sorry,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “I wasn’t trying to say,- Pete wasn’t at all your fault, you were truly friends.”

“It’s just… look at all he has to deal with because of us. I didn’t protect you.” Lily knew James felt guilty for Harry’s situation and her death as much as she did, and they both spent a great deal of time trying to convince the other of their own innocence. 

Lily kissed his cheek, “Well, if Harry’s biggest worry this year is embarrassment from Gilderoy Lockhart, I think we can take that as an improvement,” She said matter of factly, and left it at that. 

For the next few days, it seemed as if this statement was ringing true, and a pleasant surprise came for James when Harry was shaken awake by Oliver Wood at dawn. Lily jerked her eyes open after hearing Harry’s voice and shook James awake, who was resting on the floor. They had both discovered in the afterlife that although didn’t need sleep, they did get bored very easily, especially when Harry was inactive. They had both gotten... creative... with staying entertained, but it always helped to be able to rest your eyes every once in a while. 

“ _ Quidditch Practice! Come on!” Yelled Oliver Wood.  _

James rubbed his eyes and sat up at the same time as Harry, and Lily found it remarkably endearing how similar they looked. “ _ It’s the crack of dawn,” said Harry _

_ “Exactly, none of the other teams have started training yet, we’re going to be first off the mark this year.”  _ Oliver’s eyes were grinning with manic enthusiasm. 

“Hey I like where this kid's head is at,” said James. Harry staggered down the hall to the Quidditch Pitch, fending off questions from an eager Colin Creevey. When Harry finally reached the locker room, the sun was just starting to turn a shade of blue. 

Oliver Wood ranted about his various training tactics for so long that Lily dozed off on James’s shoulder, and even James’s enthusiasm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team couldn’t keep him fully engaged, about half an hour in Lily felt him place his head on top of her own. 

“ _ Why’s that first year taking pictures? I don’t like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out our new training programme.” _

__ “Oh,” James rubbed his eyes, “How long have they been out on the field?” 

“Not sure, I’ve been out longer than you have, but it looks like trouble.” Seven green-robed boys were walking onto the pitch, broomsticks in hand. Lily could feel the oncoming altercation humming in the air, and Oliver Wood was practically frothing at the mouth. 

“ _ You’ve got a new Seeker? Where?” _

James snorted as Draco Malfoy strutted forward, clutching a shiny new broom. 

“Pfft. Slytherin’s always letting kids in whose Daddy’s make big donations. But the fastest broom in the world doesn’t matter if you’re Seeker can’t see two inches in front of him. Harry will wipe that slimy smirk off his face.” 

“This is really just giving Harry more fuel to beat Slytherin,” Lily said proudly, pausing as Marcus Flint continued to deprecate the Gryffindor’s CleanSweeps compared to the team's Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. “It does seem rather unfair that so much of the sport is based on how fast of a broom you can afford, it doesn’t make for much of an even playing ground.” 

James inclined his head in agreement as Hermione and Ron strode across the field to join the commotion. 

“ _ At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in, they got in on pure talent.” _

_ “ _ Ooh Damn, take that,” Lily muttered, sticking her tongue out at the Slytherin team. 

_ “No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood.”  _

__ James breathed in sharply, stiffening with rage. “How dare he.”

Lily sighed, it was the same story, different time. It was a time when there was no war raging outside the castle walls, no need for fighting, yet it still existed. Muggleborns like her would be reduced to a slur. 

When Lily had entered Hogwarts, it was a dark time to be muggle-born, but Hogwarts had always seemed like a perfect little bubble, and the older students barely bothered to look at a few first years. It was only when she was around Severus that she caught glimpses of the words,  _ mudblood, dirty, stain upon the wizarding world.  _ Severus would always respond 

“She can’t help what she is.” Lily had frowned at this, he had still sounded as though being from a muggle family was a problem, and Severus himself had a Muggle father. 

“ _ What’s wrong with being muggleborn, I don’t see any reason to be ashamed of it.” _

__ _ “Nothing’s wrong with you, Lily, you’ve got magic, but it’s not something you want to go sharing.”  _

__ Besides banters with Severus, the true impact of the war didn’t hit Hogwarts until Lily’s second year. A few of the seventh years were openly in league with You-Know-Who, and had taken it as their mission to torment the younger muggle borns. The teachers still had Hogwarts under lock and key, and any knowledge of misbehavior was strictly punished, and so students were never openly attacked. 

Still, the words had an impact on Lily, and often thoughts would creep on the edge of her mind as she lay in bed, whispering.  _ What if you really don’t belong here, what if someone’s given you this magic by mistake, and they will find out, come and take it back? You’re just ruining Hogwarts for everyone.  _ Lily never wanted Hermione or any other muggle born to experience what she went through, feeling the heat of hate over something out of her control. 

Ron Weasley dug his hand into his robe, jabbing his wand under Malfoy’s chest. Lily felt a surge of endearment towards Ron, who would go to any lengths for his friends. 

“Oh this won’t end well,” James muttered, as a green light shot out of Ron’s chest and hit Ron squarely in the chest. 

“Oh god, he didn’t use the slug jinx?” James looked horrified. “I don’t blame him, we usually saved that one for the Slytherins with real foul mouths, allowing them “to eat their words” if you will.” 

Lily clutched her stomach, suddenly feeling quite queasy as she imagined a slimy lump crawling up her throat. Ron belched and a handful of slugs dribbled into his lap. 

“Ok, that’s really disgusting,” James muttered, neither of them having quite the stomach for gore, especially compared to Remus and Peter. 

The three of them made their way down to Hagrid’s and were able to calm down Ron’s slug infestation slightly, laughing about Lockhart along the way. 

James had been trying unsuccessfully for the last few hours to summon a slug in the afterlife, which he claimed “wasn’t food, as he was planning on throwing it up, not actually eating it.” 

The evening fell quickly and Harry made his way towards Lockhart’s room to serve his detention by answering fan mail. 

“Surely that can’t be bad,” Lily said, “Really for flying a car to school they got off fairly easily. But they always do seem to get eventful detentions.”

“Oh it will be torture alright,” James said darkly, “Scrubbing cauldrons gets you into a bit of a groove, you don’t notice time has passed. But we’ll be able to hear every word of Lockhart’s.”

Lily was soon forced to admit that James was not being overdramatic, and the third time Lily heard the phrase “ _ Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that,”  _ she almost tore her hair out.

So some hours later James and Lily found themselves crouched a ways from the veil, playing their third round of The Game of Life (the only board game available in the afterlife, which Lily assumed was the universe's idea of a joke.) 

“Well get married obviously,” James was saying, “And to a beautiful wife at that-

“ _ What?” Harry shouted loudly.  _ James and Lily jumped up, running over to the veil. 

“ _ That voice!” _

__ _ “Sorry? What voice?”  _

__ _ “That-that voice that said- didn’t you hear it?”  _ Lily looked wide-eyed at James and kicked herself for leaving the veil, of course, Harry couldn’t have one uneventful detention. Neither of them heard the voice, and now that they were there, there was no choice to discern where it had come from. 

They leaned forward eagerly as Harry described to Ron what he had heard, 

“ _ Come.. come to me.. Let me rip you… let me tear you.,. Let me kill you…”  _ James and Lily stared at each other, both afraid to breathe. 

“Well, now we understand Dobby better?” James said, trying half-heartedly for humor and falling flat. He sighed, dejected. “Do you think it's Voldemort?”

“It has to have some connection, I mean, why else would only Harry hear the voice?”

“You don’t think it could be some prank, someone sending the voice to his head?”

“Someone could be sending it,” Lily said cautiously, “But not for any harmless reason.” 

Over the next few days, the two of them made a list of anything Harry ran across that they considered “abnormal,” which at a school for wizards happened to be most of the castle. 

“Ginny Weasley was looking sick,” James muttered. 

“And Filch has the flu, if we write down everyone who’s got a cold we won’t get anywhere. I wonder what has a connection to Voldemort,” Lily sighed. She had been attempting to research anything that Voldemort may have transferred to Harry during the killing spell, which was difficult seeing as there were no other cases in known history. She had even attempted to trace Voldemort’s lineage out of curiosity, but as they had never been informed of his true name they were forced to admit it was a dead end. 

“But how could Dobby know about a danger?” James asked again, setting them back into the same circle of questions. 

Of course, it was Halloween that they would get answers, Lily thought. She admitted it was a bit ironic, watching Harry attend the ghost's Deathday party, which also happened to coincide with their own death. 

“Hey! We share a Deathday with Nearly Headless Nick, that’s pretty cool,” James said. 

“Please don’t use that term again,” Lily muttered. The afterlife, however, seemed to agree with James, and summoned up a charcoal black popcorn cake. 

So it was a relief when Harry, Ron and Hermione finally left the party, and Lily could discard her burnt piece of popcorn. They were on their way up to the Great Hall when Harry stumbled, leaning onto the cold stone walls. 

“ _ Harry, what’re you-” Hermione called  _

__ _ “It’s that voice again- shut up a minute.”  _ Lily and James froze, straining to hear anything, but Lily only caught the gurgling of the bathroom pipes. Harry scanned the stone ceiling and suddenly sprinted up the stairs, Ron and Hermione following close behind. 

“ _ It’s going to kill someone!”  _

“And he’s running towards it!?” Lily burst out, and James put a finger over his mouth, still trying to hear the voice. They stopped in a deserted passage, and James reached out for Lily’s hand, gripping it tightly as Hermione shrieked. 

“ _ Look!”  _

_ THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.  _

_ ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE  _

Lily sucked in a breath, she remembered reading about the Chamber of Secrets long ago, pouring over  _ Hogwarts, A History  _ before first year.

“ _ What’s that thing hanging underneath?”  _

“Oh god,” Lily moaned. The stiff shape of Mrs.Norris was hanging from the torch, reflecting into the puddled water. 

Footsteps pounded down the hall, and the corridor filled with students coming back from the school feast. 

Lily and James stood side by side, watching the scene unfold around them; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were paralyzed by the scene of the crime. Someone shouted through the silence,

“ _ Enemies of the heir, beware! You’ll be next, mudbloods.” _

__ The words stunned Lily into action, she collapsed next to a pile of quickly summoned books, her hands shaking with barely contained rage as she flipped through them. She looked up to see James still staring at the veil, looking at the water on the floor. His knuckles were clenched into fists by his side, but his eyes were distant, looking from his son to the halls of Hogwarts. Lily watched James through it all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break in posting, was reading and rereading Chain of Iron and had midterms, I'll likely be updating once or twice a week from now on. Thanks to everyone who's reading!


	18. The Mystery of Tom Riddle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (chapters 9-11 of Cos), James and Lily piece together clues about what the monster roaming Hogwarts could be

“ _ I never touched Mrs.Norris!,” said Harry “And I don’t even know what a Squib is.” _

__ The conversation had been going in this direction for several minutes, although everyone besides Filch was clearly aware that Harry lacked the motive or ability to petrify Filch’s cat. After the first year it seemed Dumbledore was starting to catch on that whenever anything happened, Harry seemed to stumble into it accidentally. One of the real shocks to James was the revelation that Filch was a Squib. 

Now that he thought about it, he had never seen the caretaker use magic, but many detentions required simple tasks to be done by hand. James had never grown up around Squibs, as most of them chose to live outside the Wizarding World, and the Potter’s were purebloods. It seemed odd that Filch would choose to work in a place where he had been rejected from, but so did Snape, who obviously loathed children, and yet had chosen to be a Professor. 

“ _ I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter isn’t being entirely truthful. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest.” _

__ _ “ _ Oh come on, that’s some bullshit, maybe we take you out of this castle Snivellus since you’re the one always poking your greasy nose into other people’s business,” James murmured to himself. Watching Harry in the afterlife had lead to a buildup in unexpressed emotions, and for James, the way to cope was typically taking it out on Severus Snape. 

When the trio had finally been released, Harry pulled them into an empty classroom. 

“ _ D’you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?”  _

__ _ “No,” said Ron, “Hearing voices no one else can isn’t a good sign, even in the wizarding world.” _

Lily put her face in her lap, sighing deeply, “Of course it’s not a good sign, but neither is seeing a cat petrified.”

“In their defense, last time Harry told someone what he knew it was disregarded,” James said. 

James and Lily spent the next several days pouring over any book they could summon, looking for any reference to the Chamber of Secrets. They both knew the basic story; Salazar Slytherin had left a hidden chamber in the castle that only his descendants could open. Some hundred years ago the Gaunt family had claimed to know of a secret monster that laid in the Chamber, but there could be no solid proof of this, and so the rumor died out, until-

“Hey Lily,” James called out slowly, he was clasping a scrap of newspaper from fifty years ago. “Look at this.”

She peered over his shoulder, frowning at the date. They had both read about the period of petrifications and death around that time, but James had heard nothing of the Chamber. 

**_June 13th,1943_ **

_ Rubeus Hagrid, age 14, has been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry over the illegal handling of magical creatures, resulting in the death of student Myrtle Warren. An award for Special Services to the School has been awarded to Tom M. Riddle for the capture of the monster.  _

_ “Of course Rubeus may not have had any malicious intent,” said Riddle, “But the safety of the school had to come over anything else.” _

“Monster?” Lily frowned, “Are you saying they thought Hagrid was controlling Slytherin's monster. I know Hagrid’s had a thing for magical creatures, I mean you saw what happened with the dragon, but I don’t see Dumbledore letting Hagrid stay if he had anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets. And it's Hagrid.”

“Not the monster,” James said softly. “The name. Tom Riddle.”

“I’ve heard it before,” Lily said, “But that’s not a wizarding name, is it?” 

“No, it's not,” James said slowly. “And you’d feel like they’d have more than a few sentences in the paper about something as major as the death of a student.”

“But since when does the Prophet ever make sense?” 

Luckily, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to play detective soon enough, giving Lily and James a better vantage point for clues. Lily summoned a paper and pencil and was jotting down sketches and keywords, all the way down to the patterns the spiders were walking in. 

“Why  _ are  _ the spiders acting like that?” Lily pressed.

James shrugged, “Well the hallways half-flooded, and I think that’d be a pretty big bath for a spider,” he said, but his mind wandered elsewhere. He couldn’t help but feel he had failed as a parent, even for someone who was dead. There was obviously something different about Harry, and yet James, who was watching him all the time, couldn’t figure out what his son was hearing. If he hadn’t been so blind all those years ago, he could have been with Harry now. How could Harry hear a monster that no one else could? Had he gotten it from James?  “James,” Lily was seated in front of him, waving one finger slowly in front of his face. “If you had some secret curse that made your son hear death voices and be stalked by Dark Wizards, I think we’d have known. This has something to do with Voldemort, I know it.” 

Lily rolled her eyes as James continued to stare absentmindedly. 

“James  _ Fleamont  _ Potter,” she said, and James quirked an eyebrow at the mention of his middle name. “You and Harry both have an insane talent for getting into troubling situations, Harry''s trouble just tends to be a little more life-threatening. And I know you are the least likely person to be associated with any kind of Dark Arts.” Lily reached out to brush a loose strand of hair off his forehead. “It's hard. Not being able to protect Harry,” she sighed. 

_ “Myrtle, no one wants to upset you,” Harry said.  _

James jumped up, pushing away from Lily to get to the veil. Lily followed, looking concerned. 

“Hang on-” James said.

“What?” 

“Myrtle. The ghost is named Myrtle,” James exclaimed. 

“Myrtle Warren,” Lily breathed, reaching out for the clip of the newspaper. 

As Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the common room, James looked through The Prophet for any mention of Myrtle. All he could find was the headline from earlier, and a short obituary linking her death to a “mishandled creature.” 

“Has Myrtle been there all along?” James asked. 

“Of course, no one ever goes into that bathroom, it’s dreadful. I thought you’d explored the whole school?”

“I would never invade a girl's bathroom.” James clasped a hand to his chest, sounding offended, “I respect a woman’s privacy.” 

“Uh-huh,” Lily tutted and slammed her book shut with a sigh, staring intently at the veil. “We don’t even know if Myrtle’s death had anything to do with the Chamber, I’m sure there are lots of ghosts in the castle who died... unfortunately… its likely a coincidence,” she said, and James was forced to admit that they didn’t have much else to go on, and shifted his attention back to the conversation in the common room. 

“ _ Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?” _

__ _ “Look at his family, they could easily be Slytherin’s descendants.” _

__ “If that little git is the descendant of Salazar Slytherin, then I’m Merlin’s grandson,” James muttered, “He can’t even fly well.” James knew that if either the Black’s or the Malfoy’s could trace their ancestry back to Slytherin they would have boasted about it in every word. Still, the trio seemed convinced. 

“ _ What we need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us. All we need is some Polyjuice Potion _

__ _ “ _ Polyjuice?” Lily said. “You don’t brew that until NEWT level.”

“It’s not too difficult,” James said, “The risk is anyone walking in on you brewing a Potion.”

“Tell me you didn’t make it at school,” Lily groaned. 

“Of course we did,” James grinned, “Why else do you think Filch had such extreme mood swings?

“You-transformed into Filch?” 

“Well, not just him, it would have looked quite suspicious if he slept in  _ every day,  _ but sometimes we couldn’t resist using the map to punish some Slytherins, or get into the teacher’s lounge. We just let Moony transform when he was hungry and he embodied the grouchy spirit pretty well, no one suspected a thing.” 

“I don’t even want to know what you did with the people you transformed into,” Lily shook her head, smiling, “But that’s pretty impressive.” 

The next few days passed in a blur as the kids planned to make the PolyJuice Potion, Hermione surprisingly being the one determined to push forward. James was infuriated with Professor Lockhart's daily claims that you could tackle a werewolf into submitting its werewolf form, but he respected their plan to get the Polyjuice book out of the Restricted Section. 

“They’re brewing the potion in the bathroom across from the attack?” James said. “There are so many other passages they could use.” James was a little disappointed Harry hadn’t discovered any of the secret passages out of the castle yet, but he had to give him credit for finding a secret obstacle course last year. Lily was also quick to point out that Harry had a few more pressing things on his mind than exploring ways to sneak out of the school, but they both agreed he definitely would have wandered into risky situations regardless.

Lily took one look at the grin on James’s face Saturday morning and laughed. “Quidditch?” James nodded eagerly, settling himself in front of the veil. “Of course,” Lily said. “Nothing else could get you this excited.” 

Oliver Wood was speaking like they were about to enter an Order battle, his chest heaving. 

“ _ Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we’ve got to win today, we’ve got to.”  _

__ _ “ _ That’s the spirit,” James said, clapping his hands together. In James’s mind, this was a way for the Potter's to get revenge on Sirius’s horrible family once and for all. He wasn’t even sure why Harry let Malfoy get to him so much, but now Harry had to crush him. 

Harry had barely lifted his broom into the air when things started to go downhill. Harry swerved quickly to avoid a Bludger, only to have it boomerang back at him. Harry was forced to fly at full speed to avoid the Bludger, and James sucked in a breath between his teeth as the Weasleys narrowly whacked the ball away. 

“Can’t have a fair game, can we?” James said. 

“Has that ever happened?” Lily asked.

“Someone’s fixed the Bludger, filthy little cheaters. Gryffindor should just knock them off their brooms fair and square.” 

“Why isn’t a staff member doing something? It's obviously jinked.” James scanned the crowd intently for anyone who looked suspicious. Eventually, Wood got the hint and called for a timeout, and the team circled together.

“ _ If we stop now, we’ll have to forfeit the match! And we’re not losing to Slytherin because of a mad Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!”  _

__ “What is it with boys and the need to die for a Quidditch game?” Lily sighed. 

“He’ll beat them,” James said firmly. “It’s the perfect underdog story. He’ll crush Slytherin with a slower broom and a fixed Bludger and Gryffindor will go down as the greatest team in the world.” 

“As long as they find whatever toerag fixed the Bluder and make them rue the day they messed with Harry, I’m all for it,” Lily said, but she still stared worryingly at the veil. 

James was on his toes, giddy with excitement as Harry demonstrated one of the most impressive displays of broomstick maneuvering in his attempts to get away from the Bludger. In the back of his mind, he was aware of the dangers of the Bludger, but he couldn’t help re-enacting Harry’s every swoop, spiral, and zigzag as he looked for the Snitch. 

Lily reluctantly stood up, turning on a quidditch commentary voice: “Oh and he dodges the Bludger again! One more terrific move from the youngest seeker in the century, Harry James Potter!” Lily mimed pulling a microphone to her face in shock, “And the Bludger is going back at the seeker AGAIN! It’s almost as if this game is super duper rigged.”

James feinted dropping to the ground to avoid the Bludger and Lily gasped, “HE’S SEEN THE SNITCH. IT’S HOVERING OVER MALFOY’S EAR AND THE LITTLE TWIT DOESN’T. EVEN. SEE. IT.” The real commentator, Lee Jordan, had mysteriously directed his attention towards the goal post so as to not attract Malfoy’s attention. 

_ WHAM!  _

The Bludger smashed into Harry’s elbow, and James heard a crack as Harry’s arm broke. Lily screamed as Harry made a wild dive towards Malfoy, taking both hands off the broom and desperately reaching for the Snitch. 

“HE DID IT. HE CAUGHT THE SNITCH WITH A BROKEN ARM, FALLING OFF HIS BROOM. THAT’S MY BOY. BEST QUIDDITCH PLAYER IN A CENTURY RIGHT HERE. MY SON,” James screamed. 

“James shh, he’s fainted,” Lily called, but she too was grinning at Harry. Harry opened his eyes to a blur of people standing above him, and James could make out one person in particular. 

“ _ No! I’ll keep it like this, thanks… Harry said to Professor Lockhart.  _

_ “ _ Oh get your hands off of him,” Lily groaned. Lockhart twirled his wand and Lily doubled over into James clutching her stomach. In the place of Harry’s arm was what looked like a rubber glove, flopping around. 

“He can never have an easy day, can he?” James muttered.

Several hours later, James and Lily were awoken from their doze by the veil by a loud yelp. 

“ _ Get off! Dobby!”  _

James rubbed his eyes, immediately alert. “ _ Harry Potter came back to school. Why didn’t Harry Potter go back to school when he missed the train? _

__ _ “You’d better clear off before my bones come back, Dobby, or I might strangle you.”  _

__ _ “Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home.” _

__ _ “ _ So he sent the Bludger and the barricade?”

“If he doesn’t stop trying to save Harry he’s going to get him killed,” James muttered. He had previously been feeling bitter towards the elf for almost ruining Harry’s Quidditch game and getting him locked up, felt a pang of sympathy towards Dobby. He had been reading up on house-elves since the incident at the beginning of the year and understood why they could see Harry as a savior. 

_ “Now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more-”  _ James jerked up as Dobby froze, horror-struck, then grabbed Harry’s water jug and cracked it over his head. 

“ _ Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby”  _ Harry demanded answers, but Dobby remained unable to tell him anything more, and disappeared with a crack as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Dumbledore entered, followed by a long petrified body. 

“Oh!” Lily gasped. The small figure of Colin Creevey was set down wide-eyed on the bed. “Oh poor boy.” James sank to the floor feeling for Colin for a slightly different reason than Lily’s motherly instinct. James was aware that he had collected misfits of a sort at school, people who idolized him, and he had started to see Colin as another chance at this, as someone he would have protected. But as he looked into the eyes of the boy, he was just reminded of another person they had failed to protect. 

“ _ What does this mean, Albus?” said Professor McGonagall urgently.  _

__ _ “It means that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again.” _

__ _ “But Albus… surely… who?  _

__ _ “The question is not who, the question is how…” _

James glanced at Lily’s shadowy eyes and saw her staring right back at him, the realization clear that neither of them understood what had been said; just the gravity of it. 

↪↪

James could barely believe it. Hermione Granger was orchestrating a prank on Severus Snape. It was a classic move, and James watched with glee as Harry pulled out a Filibuster firework, and aimed it perfectly into Goyle’s cauldron.

The potion exploded and the surrounding Slytherin’s faces started swelling into saucers. James choked with laughter at Snape’s enraged face as he pulled the firework out of the cauldron. 

“They could’ve just used the cloak, right?” Lily said as Harry, Ron, and Hermione snuck into the bathroom with the stolen ingredients. “The potions storage doesn’t have any secret booby traps?” 

“Not unless Snape’s added them,” James said. “But this way is sure a hell of a lot more entertaining.”

↪↪

James was intrigued when he read the sign for Duelling Club as the attempt in his years had been disastrous. After muggle-borns started being hexed for merely walking down the halls, the club had started to teach students how to defend themselves. However, the Slytherin’s soon found a way to turn it into a recruiting ground for students that wanted to learn more dark magic. 

James had first been paired with Lily, who he refused on principle to jinx, and ended up in the hospital wing after he forgot to lift his wand to defend himself. James maintained that it would be impossible for anyone to  _ look  _ at Lily Evans and not have every other thought blow out of their mind. Surely a simple spell wasn’t important when she was looking at you dead in the eye. 

He had then been paired with Snape, which turned into even more of a disaster, as they both took the opportunity to jinx each other as violently as possible. The duel had turned into a full-on battle before McGonagall had stepped in, freezing them both. 

So far it seemed that this Duelling club was to follow the same tradition. James didn’t think he would ever side with Snape, but it was very entertaining to see Lockhart struggling to maintain his dignity after being disarmed. 

__ Naturally, the worst possible pairings were made with dueling partners, and Harry ended up paired with Draco Malfoy. After Harry absolutely obliterated Malfoy at the last Quidditch match James thought Harry might finally realize Malfoy’s threats were beneath him, but the two-shot every jinx they had at one another, (which for twelve-year-olds happened to be a tickling charm and dancing leg jinx)

“ _ Finite Incantatem!”  _ Snape finally shouted, and the carnage was able to unfold. Millicent Bulstrode had Hermione in a headlock, and Harry valiantly left forward to pull Millicent off. Instead of doing the sensible thing and calling the meeting off, Lockhart pulled Harry and Malfoy to the front to practice defensive spells. 

“ _ Just do what I did, Harry.” _

__ _ “What, drop my wand? _

“Why do they learn a tickling charm before basic defensive skills?” Lily asked, 

“Hey, a tickling spell can cause true mayhem if used correctly,” James replied. 

“ _ Serpensortia!” Malfoy bellowed.  _ The end of his wand exploded and a long, black snake slithered onto the floor. Lily looked at James, wide-eyed, and he knew she was remembering Harry’s zoo incident. 

Lockhart stepped forward, brandishing his wand in an attempt to get rid of the snake, and ended up sending it flying in the air, landing in front of Justin Finch-Fletchy. Harry walked towards the snake and let out a hissing sound as if he were choking for air. The audience looked terrified as the snake dropped to the floor, docile. Harry looked up to Justin, grinning, and James could tell he expected the audience to be relieved. 

“ _ What do you think you’re playing at?” Justin shouted, and ran out of the hall.  _

Lily and James stood in stunned silence, only dimly aware of Ron and Hermione steering Harry out of the hall. 

“ _ You’re _ __ _ a Parselmouth, why didn’t you tell us?”  _

James finally found words, “He’s a Parselmouth,” he said blankly. 

“I mean, we guessed after the zoo incident,” Lily said quietly. They had both brushed it off as a coincidence; refused to entertain the possibility because it didn’t make  _ any  _ sense. The Potter’s could trace their lineage back to the Peverell’s and had been Gryffindors the whole time, and Lily had only muggle ancestors. Even if they could possibly trace their ancestry to Slytherin, James and Lily weren’t Parseltongue’s. 

“There is something different about Harry,” James said.

“You mean, apart from the fact that he somehow survived the killing curse.”

James nodded, “The green orb that night in Godric’s Hollow, the snake’s, voices that no one else can hear.”

Lily’s eyes widened, she leaned forward to grab his hand eagerly. “That’s it! Harry’s hearing voices. In a language only he can understand. Him and the Heir of Slytherin. Slytherin’s using Parseltongue to control the monster.” 

“So the monster’s a giant snake? But who’s controlling it? I mean it obviously can’t be Harry.” Lily looked at him fearfully, and he knew what they were both thinking; something that Voldermort was known for. Possessing your mind and you didn’t even know it. 

“Well, we’d know if Harry was unknowingly controlling a monster, we can see everything that happens to him,” Lily said. “But then who could it be?” They were both at a dead end. 

“Well, if we can’t answer  _ who,  _ we can narrow down the  _ what _ ,” James said, and opened a very old book titled “ _ Beasts of Britain.” _

He flipped through the pages before stopping suddenly as Harry decided to go look for Justin Finch-Fletchley. A group of Hufflepuffs were crowded in the library, gossiping about Harry. 

“ _ Hannah. He’s a Parselmouth. No one knows how we survived that attack by You-Know-Who. Only a really powerful Dark Wizard could have survived a curse like that.”  _ James shook with anger, he couldn’t fathom how the Hufflepuffs, who supposedly valued loyalty, could turn their backs on Harry, who had defeated Voldemort last year and was clearly not the heir of Slytherin. Then again, if James had been a little more skeptical of his own friends, perhaps he’d still be alive today. 

After an awkward conversation with the Hufflepuff’s, Harry stormed out of the library and ran face forward into the solid mass of Hagrid. Hagrid held up a limp rooster to show Harry, 

“ _ Second one killed this term. It’s either foxes or a Blood-Suckin’ Bugbear.” _

_ “ _ Lily-” James called and flipped hurriedly to a page in the book. Lily leaned over his shoulder, reading eagerly. 

_ Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.  _

James looked up to see Lily staring at him, her green eyes standing out in contrast to her quickly paling face. 

“But who-?” she whispered. James opened his mouth and was interrupted by a scream erupting from the veil, they looked up to see Peeves floating gleefully down a corridor, knocking Harry’s glasses askew. 

“ _ What’s Potter up to? Why’s Potter lurking- _ ” Lying on the ground were the petrified bodies of Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick. Peeves opened his mouth to shout, and a flood of students and teachers came running, causing a scene of panic. James was so focused on the scene he barely even registered Peeve’s new rhyming couplet, but he knew the words would ricochet in Harry’s head for a long time. 

“ _ Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done? You’re killing off students, you think it’s good fun.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was a fairly long one! lots of stupid decisions for Jily to facepalm over in the next few chapters, but I figured they would have been able to piece together aspects of the mystery sooner than those at Hogwarts. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey first HP fic! If anyone is reading this thank you :) This chapter was pretty dark but will get more lighthearted as the story progresses and James and Lily get to watch Harry grow up! Pls comment any suggestions or ideas


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